My Mr Turtle
by Andrea O'Down
Summary: Madelyn Dearing is a little girl with a vivid imagination. So making up an imaginary friend isn't so unusual for her. But the thing is she just can't stop talking about her Mr. Turtle. This story follows the little girl Leo has tea with in "Slash and Destroy".
1. Madelyn

_The idea to this story was put in my head by Dragonblooded when we talked about supporting characters. Thank you so much for letting me go with it, Dragonblooded! :)_

* * *

**Chapter 01: Madelyn**

Madelyn Dearing was one lucky girl. She had all these neat little dresses to wear, a room full of dolls, stuffed animals, and other toys after a little girl's fancy, and a father that would do anything to see his little darling happy.

That was on the outside, though. If anyone dug any deeper he might have realized that all these fancy things Madelyn owned were just some sort of a distraction to let her forget about the one thing that was missing in her life – a mother.

Madelyn had lost her mother in a car accident when she was two. She had nearly no memory of her. And in her father's opinion, that was a good thing. From this fateful day on he had tried his best to be both for his daughter – mother and father. And he thought he had been doing a good job. Madelyn was a cheerful little girl, nice and polite. Yes, she could be stubborn from time to time, but which little girl wasn't? So all in all, Mr. Dearing was very proud of his little girl.

But an event some weeks ago had shown how easily he could lose her. That night _something_ had torn two holes into the apartment building, both awfully close to his little girl. The official explanation was that there had been two explosions, although neither the fire workers nor the police had been able to find any explosive charges. But it was the most logical explanation after all, so Mr. Dearing had decided to go with it.

He still wasn't able to put together all pieces. All he knew was that he had fallen asleep over the newspaper. Being a single father was a full-time job, and he adored it, but from time to time it really was fatiguing. And while he would wake and look after his daughter at the slightest scream of her, any other thing would barely make him open his eyes. He was a sound sleeper.

So he remembered that he had heard something that night, some sort of a deep grumbling that had reached his ear, and he had half-asleep opened an eye, but whatever it was hadn't woken him completely. It was the second grumbling that made him jump to his feet. That sound had been too close, he had felt the building shaking, and with a fearful look on his face he raced over to his daughter's room, nearly busting in the door. But what he had seen had left him stand rooted to the spot. The door handle still in his hand he just stood in the doorway, blinking a few times. There was a huge hole in the ceiling of his daughter's room and one in the wall. And in the middle of the room was his daughter, sitting at her small table and having a tea party with some of her dolls and stuffed animals.

"I'm sorry, Daddy," she said casually while raising one of the tiny plastic-tea cups to her lips. "But you just missed Mr. Turtle."

_Mr. Turtle…_

His daughter had kept talking about this Mr. Turtle ever since that night. He had been worried at first, but given the fact that she had gone through a lot, that she could have gotten killed, making up an imaginary friend that could protect her only seemed self-evident.

He had talked to one of her teachers about this and they had agreed that this must be some sort of a protective mechanism to give Madelyn a feeling of safety, to prevent her from having to think about that she could have died that night.

Though her constant Mr. Turtle-talk was going to his nerves, Mr. Dearing was happy it kept her from thinking about what really had happened. Madelyn had undergone a lot in her young life, so not remembering bad things was good. That was what he told himself when she again came up with another Mr. Turtle-story.

_Let her talk,_ he thought. _It's good if she doesn't remember the explosions and…other things._

So he always forced a smile and nodded to her explanations of Mr. Turtle not having a pinkie and so on.

His little girl had been so brave, so he really owed her at least trying to pay attention.

When they had to move to an emergency accommodation because due to the explosions their former home building had gotten so unstable it needed to be rebuilt, all Madelyn had been complaining about was how Mr. Turtle should find her for their tea-party if they moved. She didn't complain about their temporary home although it was so much smaller than their usual apartment. It only consisted of a kitchen-cum-living-room and a cabinet. While Mr. Dearing slept on the sofa bed, the cabinet served as Madelyn's room. It was so small that now every inch of it was covered with her toys – except for the bed, that was. Opening the door really was a challenge, not to think of the hurdles race Mr. Dearing had to master when he had to make his way to his daughter's bed to wake her up in the morning.

But Madelyn didn't complain about that. She was having her tea-parties with her dolls and stuffed animals, doing her home-work on the kitchen table and still seemed like the happy girl she has always been.

The only thing that made Mr. Dearing sad was having to watch her standing at the small window of the cabinet with her plastic tea pot next to her on the windowsill and watching outside.

And tonight was no exception. Carefully, Mr. Dearing opened the door, shifting some of Madelyn's toys aside while doing so.

He choked a sigh when he saw Madelyn standing at the window again. With a frown he went over to her, going around her toys on the floor.

"Hi, Lynnie," he said, using the nickname he had given her when he had first held her in his arms, a nickname only he was allowed to use. "What are you doing?"

Mr. Dearing gave a sigh of relief when he managed to reach the window without stepping on one of the toys. Madelyn hadn't put her eyes away from the night-sky.

"I'm waiting for Mr. Turtle," she answered. "Maybe he will pass and if he sees me here with my teapot, he'd come here."

A few minutes passed until she spoke up again. "When are we going home, Daddy? Mr. Turtle doesn't seem to find me here. He is worried. We need to go home, Daddy. Mr. Turtle is waiting for his tea."

Mr. Dearing placed a reassuring hand on his daughter's shoulder.

"Soon, my dear," he said calmly.

Madelyn sighed.

Mr. Dearing thought for a moment, wracking his brain for something to cheer his daughter up, and when he finally had an idea his face brightened up.

"But you are forgetting one very important thing, Lynnie," he said with a smile.

Madelyn turned to face him with a questioning look in her eyes.

"Your daddy is waiting for his tea, too," Mr. Dearing said with a smile. "So what do you think? Shall we have tea-party?"

Madelyn nodded eagerly, taking the teapot in one hand as her father picked her up and carried her out of her room and into the kitchen which really was difficult as he had to go around all her toys again, but he managed. He set her down on one of the chairs at the kitchen table.

Madelyn put the plastic teapot in front of her.

"Daddy, we forgot about the cups!" she said surprised.

"No, we haven't," her father responded with a smile, "because tonight we are using the good china." And with a chuckle he put the big china teapot and two cups out of the kitchen unit and placed them on the table.

Madelyn clapped her hands in excitement.

* * *

Leo was standing on a rooftop, looking over to the building where he and the little girl had had a tea party. There was scaffolding put up around the house. The mutant turtle sighed. The building was still dark, and it meant it still wasn't habitable.

Ever since the Slash-incident Leo had come here to check if the little girl was back. He didn't tell his brothers, though. They avoided this area during their patrols – officially due to the fact that Slash could still be around here somewhere and they weren't ready to face him yet. This was an excuse, and a pretty lame one, they all were aware of that. Slash knew where they lived, so avoiding this area wasn't really helping. Truth was that they wanted to keep Raph from having to meet his former pet turtle. Raph would never admit it but he was hurting because of what had happened. Partly because he thought that Slash attacking and nearly wiping out his brothers was his fault and partly because he had lost his beloved pet, his little buddy. Raph was thankful for the excuse, though, even if it was a lame one. So Leo and his brothers stuck to it.

But Leo had come back here from time to time to check on the building. After all, he had promised the little girl that he would visit her again. The first time after the fight with Slash he had been able to sneak away from his brothers, he had been somehow surprised to find the building empty. But on the other hand it was only logical that the building had to go through some major re-construction after what Slash and Raph – mostly Slash – had done to it.

But it had made Leo sad nonetheless. He had to admit it, spending time with the little girl had been fun. She was the first human in a long time that hadn't freaked out when seeing him or tried to kill him or turned out to be some crazy stalker.

And after what he and his brothers had gone through the last months he really had been looking forward to spend some time with her again.

He lowered his eyes. Though there was some construction progress visible, it didn't look like the building would be habitable soon. Sure, he could ask Donnie to use his hacking skills to find out where the little girl and her father had moved to, but somehow Leo didn't want to do that. He didn't want his brothers to find out how important the girl was to him and so he kept her a secret as good as he could. Sure, Raph had told Mikey and Donnie about Leo having tea-time, and they had made fun of him. But Leo hadn't showed them how much he actually cared and so the teasing had stopped eventually.

Leo didn't know why he was so possessive of her, but he just didn't want to share her with his brothers. Maybe he saw her as some sort of a refuge, something he had looked for for a long time, something he had hoped for whenever he was on the verge of breaking down under the pressure of trying to be the best leader for his brothers.

But as it looked right now, he wouldn't be able to see her soon. And he was sure that the more time passed the more likely it was the little girl would forget about him. After all, she had a vivid imagination. So why should she stick to some imaginary Mr. Turtle when she could think of a beautiful unicorn instead?

This thought always gave his heart a twinge.

He tried to convince himself that it would be best for her to forget about him. Knowing him could be dangerous, and putting her into danger was the last thing he wanted. He said that to himself whenever his hope of seeing light in her room faded.

It didn't work, though. He still wanted to see her again, he still hoped he could spend a nice evening with her, forget about his responsibility, just being Mr. Turtle for one evening.

With another sigh he turned to leave.

Yes, she probably had forgotten about him right now, replaced him with some pink, sparkling unicorn.

_Oh, Mr. Turtle, you have no idea…_


	2. Dear Mr Turtle

_Thank you all for your support. :) So here's the second chapter. I know the part where Leo _finds_ the letter is a bit far-fetched, but hey, it's a fanfiction about mutant ninja turtles, so please be lenient. ;)_

* * *

**Chapter 02: Dear Mr. Turtle**

Climbing the steps of the subway station in seconds Mr. Dearing rushed over to the school building. He had promised to pick up Madelyn from the after-school care club sooner today because they wanted to go to the movie and watch this new animated movie about the unicorn-princess, but he had literally been drowning in work today and had left the office even later than usual.

He leaped the staircase to the entrance in two jumps and hastened to where the after-school care club rooms were. When he turned around the corner he changed to a slower pace. There was this common rule about not running in school's corridors, and first, he didn't want to be a bad role model for the children, and second, who said that despite his age he couldn't still get yelled at by some random teacher for running in the corridor? And that would be way too embarrassing.

So when he reached the room where he knew his daughter was waiting for him in a swift pace, he was still gasping for air after all this running. But when he set eyes on the teacher who was in charge of the after-school care today, he knew he wouldn't get to her anytime soon.

He nodded at the teacher in greeting, hoping against better knowledge she would just let him pass.

"Mr. Dearing," the teacher said matter-of-factly. "May I have a word with you?"

Mr. Dearing choked a sigh and nodded. He glanced over the teacher's shoulder into the room and caught sight of his daughter sitting at a table and drawing, but Madelyn didn't look up. Then the teacher closed the door and joined Mr. Dearing in the corridor.

"Mr. Dearing," the teacher went on, "I know Madelyn has been going through a lot lately. And I do understand that her constant talk about her imaginary friend is her way of coping with the situation, but the other kids are starting to avoid her. And when I realized that, I thought something needs to be done."

"And what would that be?" Mr. Dearing asked.

"Maybe you should talk to her that her imaginary friend is great and all, but that there are other great things happening in her life. Or you could take her to a child's therapist. If you need any contact details, there are a few therapists I can recommend."

Mr. Dearing's eyes widened when the teacher mentioned a therapist. This was the last thing he wanted. A therapist could make Madelyn remember how dangerous it had been back then, and he wanted to spare his daughter these scary memories.

"Thank you, Mrs. Stenson," he finally said. "I will think of something."

He glanced at his watch. It was too late for the cinema now, so he had to think of something else to entertain his daughter anyway. He decided they would walk the way back to their apartment, or emergency accommodation, to be precise. Maybe an idea to make his daughter think of anything else than Mr. Turtle would pop up on their way.

With a nod he passed the teacher, opened the door and went over to his daughter.

Madelyn still didn't look away from her drawing.

"Hey, Madelyn," Mr. Dearing said with a smile as he crouched down next to her.

"Hey, Daddy!" Madelyn lifted her head and beamed at him for a second before turning back to her drawing.

"What are you doing?" her father asked and glanced over her shoulder. He choked the second sigh that day when he realized the picture showed two green figures, both with a very round body and quite big heads, but one with a red line over its eyes and one with a blue one, and a much bigger blue figure with fangs.

"I am drawing a picture for Mr. Turtle," Madelyn explained. "See, this is Mr. Turtle." She pointed to the green figure with the blue line. "And this is Mr. Red, Mr. Turtle's best friend." Her finger moved to the one with the red line. "And this is Mr. Bad Guy, Mr. Turtle's enemy." She pointed at the blue figure now. "But it is not finished yet."

"So, do you think you can finish the picture at home?" Mr. Dearing asked. "We are too late for the cinema anyway – I'm sorry for that, dear. We will go tomorrow, okay? – But now you have enough time to finish your picture while I prepare dinner. What do you think?"

"That's a great idea, Daddy!" Madelyn clapped her hands in joy. "So if Mr. Turtle finds me tonight, I can give him his picture right away."

"That's my girl," Mr. Dearing said as he stroked her head. "Always looking at the bright side."

Madelyn beamed at her father again and then got up, picture in hand, and walked over to where her schoolbag was. She carefully stashed the picture and then slung the bag over her shoulders. She walked back to her father who reached out for her and she smilingly took his hand.

When they left the room Mr. Dearing did his best to ignore the glances all the other kids were flashing his daughter. But he failed miserably. They looked at his daughter in some sort of dislike, and when Madelyn waved at her friends cheerfully and said good-bye, the waves she got in response were rather half-hearted.

Mr. Dearing bit his lip when he saw that. Madelyn on the other hand didn't seem to notice or care.

* * *

Father and daughter were walking down the street, holding hands and chatting. Well, Madelyn did most of the talking, her father was just listening, giving his daughter's hand a reassuring squeeze from time to time.

When they turned around a corner, Mr. Dearing's eyes fell on a window dressing. It was a stationery shop. The man let his eyes wander over the letter paper in all colors and with all kind of ornaments that was shown. An idea formed in his head, causing a little smile to appear on his face.

* * *

Later that evening – Mr. Dearing was nearly finished with preparing the dinner – Madelyn came into the kitchen. She held a pink envelop in her hand – one from the letter paper set she had chosen earlier that evening. Her father had chuckled slightly, when she had decided to take the pink set right after they had entered the shop. Sometimes his little girl was so predictable.

"Are you done with writing your letter, Lynnie?" he asked.

With a nod Madelyn placed the envelope on the kitchen table.

Mr. Dearing glanced over his shoulder as he took a pot from the hotplate.

_Already sealed_, he thought. Well, that shouldn't trouble his plans at all.

"And what did you write Mr. Turtle?" he asked further.

"Daddy!" Madelyn's voice had a dispraising ring to it. "That's for Mr. Turtle only!"

"Oh, yeah, sure. Sorry, Lynnie."

Madelyn climbed one of the chairs, looking at the letter with a questioning look in her eyes.

"Are you sure the people at the post office know where Mr. Turtle lives?"

"Lynnie, they are working at a post office. Addresses are their job. I'm sure they know his as well."

"Okay." Madelyn didn't sound totally convinced, but she smiled at her father.

Mr. Dearing returned the smile.

"Now, who's in for spaghetti?" he asked blithefully.

"Mememememememe!" Madelyn cheered, bouncing up and down on her chair.

* * *

With a smile on his face Mr. Dearing left the apartment building. Madelyn had insisted that he brought her letter to the post office right after dinner. He didn't like to leave her alone, but when Madelyn had given him her puppy-eyes-look, he simply couldn't do anything, but do as she wished. So he had popped a DVD of Madelyn's favorite cartoon show into the player and extracted the promise from her that she wouldn't open the door to any strangers and wait in the living room until he returned.

He knew he didn't really have to go to the post office. A little walk around the block for around fifteen minutes should do the trick. He would return to the apartment later, telling Madelyn that he had been successful, and then tomorrow during his lunch break write a response to Madelyn's letter. Sure, he would have to change his handwriting, but he was sure he could handle it. Maybe being able to correspond with her Mr. Turtle would make her talk less about him and so the other kids would talk and play with her again.

Mr. Dearing thought about his plan once more, and yes, he was sure it was a good plan. But since he didn't have anything better to do, maybe he could read the letter while he did his little walk.

He dug into the pocket of his jacket, retrieving Madelyn's letter. He looked at the envelop where Madelyn had written "To Mr. Turtle" down in her spidery handwriting.

But that moment a gust of wind yanked the letter out of his hand.

"Oh no!" Mr. Dearing cried out, running after the letter which was drifting away from him in some sort of crazy dance, driven by the wind.

Mr. Dearing did his best to catch the letter again. He saw it being driven around the corner of a building into a side street. He sprinted after it, nearly overbalancing at the turn. But when he had sprinted down the side street a few steps, he stopped abruptly. He looked around him, scanning his surroundings for the pink envelope. It would stick out of the predominant gray and brown of the side street, even in the street lighting. But there wasn't anything but gray and brown.

A frustrated growl escaped his mouth as he realized he had lost the letter, and he kicked a waste container before he left the side street again.

What on earth should he do now?

* * *

Leo had just lifted the manhole cover and glanced around when a piece of paper hit his face, staying wrapped over his eyes as if it was glued there. With a grunt he wanted to brush it aside when he heard footsteps. Instinctively, he moved his head back and let the manhole cover slip back in place. With an annoyed gesture he grabbed the piece of paper, pushed himself off the ladder and landed on the ground.

He looked back up, hoping to hear retrieving footsteps soon.

While waiting, he realized he was still holding the piece of paper which now that he looked at it, turned out to be a letter. In lack of something better to do, leaning there against the brick wall of the sewers' tunnel, he moved the envelope closer to his eyes so that he could examine it more closely. The dim light falling through the manhole cover above fell on the letter and he could read which addressee was written down on the envelope.

His eyes widened in surprise and he thanked fate that he hadn't just thrown it away.

He shifted a bit so that more light fell down on the envelope, but the words written down remained the same.

_To Mr. Turtle._

When he read that he couldn't help, but smile. The awaited retrieving footsteps could be heard now, but Leo didn't seem to notice.

He ripped the envelope open and took the letter out, unfolding the paper. And then he read what the sweet little darling had written to him.

_Dear Mr. Turtle,_

_I hope you are doing fine. My Daddy and me had to move to a new apartment after Mr. Red and Mr. Bad Guy broke our old one and it needs to be fixed now. But we move back soon._  
_When will you visit me again? Tea parties aren't the same without you. Even Mrs. Sparkling Hair complaint that tea parties are boring without you, and you know how Mrs. Sparkling Hair is. When she admit it, it's true._  
_I drew you a pic. I hope you like it._  
_Is Mr. Red okay? Did Mr. Bad Guy hurt him?_  
_I hope to hear from you soon._

_Yours,  
Madelyn_

Leo chuckled while reading. So the little girl had decided to name Raph Mr. Red and Slash Mr. Bad Guy. He wished he could tell his brother that he got a new name as well, but no, that was a bad idea. And he had absolutely no idea who Mrs. Sparkling Hair was, but he guessed it was one of Madelyn's dolls.

He looked at the second piece of paper, the picture Madelyn had drawn of him, Raph and Slash made him chuckle.

He then looked at the envelope again, checking for a return address, and yes, there it was, Miss Madelyn Dearing's new address.

Leo really wished he could respond to this letter, but he couldn't just march into a post office and mail a letter. The smile on his face faded quickly when he realized that.

But then his body straightened. Well, maybe he couldn't do that, but he knew someone who could. He just needed to let this someone in on his little secret. And he knew this someone was really good at keeping secrets and wouldn't make fun of him like his brothers surely would.

The smile appeared back on his face when he started moving.

* * *

Later that night, April O'Neil opened the window to her room at the silent tapping of the mutant turtle waiting outside on the fire escape.

The teenage girl greeted her friend with a questioning look in her eyes.

"April," Leo said. "I think I need your help."


	3. A Letter from Mr Turtle

**Chapter 03: A Letter from Mr. Turtle**

With a sigh Mr. Dearing took his mail out of the mailbox. Two days had passed since he had lost Madelyn's letter and he had wracked his brain to find a solution. So far, he had told his little girl that the post office clerks hadn't been sure if they had Mr. Turtle's right address, but that they had promised to call him if they couldn't find Mr. Turtle. And tomorrow he would make one of his walks, telling Madelyn that he was going to the post office to ask if they had been able to deliver Mr. Turtle's letter. And then he would tell Madelyn that they had told him that they unfortunately had lost the letter. And then Madelyn would write a new letter and everything would be all right.

Yes, that would work. He was sure about that.

While climbing the stairs he looked through the letters. Bills, mostly, but one letter caught his eye. Its green envelope stood out of the other white ones, and he had a closer look.

His eyes widened when he realized that the letter was addressed to Madelyn. Mr. Dearing turned it around to check the return address. He raised a brow. He had never heard that name before. But well, it was Madelyn's letter. She would tell him what this was about.

When he opened the door to the apartment, Madelyn immediately ran up to him.

"Is there a letter for me, Daddy?" she asked cheerfully. "Is there, is there, is there?"

"Actually, there is," Mr. Dearing answered with a smile and handed her the letter.

"Hooray!" Madelyn cried out. She grasped the letter and ran over to the couch. She jumped on the couch so slaphappy, causing the springs to afterbounce for a while.

With a smile Madelyn yanked the letter open and read it.

Though her father was curious to find out what this letter was about, he decided to ask her later. He needed to prepare dinner anyway.

"Oh, it's from Mr. Turtle!" Madelyn cried out suddenly

"It is?" Mr. Dearing said disbelievingly, nearly dropping the pot he had just taken out from the kitchen unit.

"Of course it is!" Madelyn gave back. "You brought my letter to the post office, remember? And now I got a reply. That's how letters work, Daddy!"

"You're…right," Mr. Dearing stammered.

"Daddy, how long until dinner is ready?"

"Half an hour, I guess," Mr. Dearing replied.

"Good, then I will start writing my reply now," Madelyn explained and got up. She grabbed the letter and the envelope and went to her room.

Mr. Dearing watched her leave. His eyes were still wide with surprise.

When the door to Madelyn's room shut closed, he put down the pot on the kitchen counter, pulled up one of the chairs at the kitchen table and sank down on it.

What was going on here? This made no sense! _He _was supposed to reply to Madelyn's Mr. Turtle-letter. And he had lost the letter: How was it even possible that she had gotten a reply? This was a miracle to him.

* * *

Madelyn was sitting at her small table, the letter unfolded in front of her on the table top, and read it one more time.

_Dear Madelyn,_

_Thank you very much for your letter! It made me very happy. And the picture is just beautiful. I hope you are going to draw more pictures for me in the future.  
I hate to keep Mrs. Sparkling Hair waiting, but before I can visit you in your new home, I have to make sure it is safe. There are more people like Mr. Bad Guy out there, and I don't want anything to happen to you. But until then we can continue writing letters. Is that okay for you? And could you please send your letters to the return address of this letter? It's a very good friend of mine, and she will make sure I get your letters as soon as possible.  
I am fine, although I have to admit, I really, really miss your awesome tea parties. I can't wait to visit you again, but as I said, I need to make sure first that you are safe.  
Mr. Red is fine, too. No, Mr. Bad Guy didn't hurt him. But he is really sorry for having broken your house.  
I wish you a great time until we hear from each other again. Greetings to Mrs. Sparkling Hair and all the other new friends I made that evening._

_Yours,  
Mr. Turtle_

A smile appeared on Madelyn's face as she took her pink letter paper and her pen and started writing.

* * *

When Mr. Dearing called his daughter to dinner, Madelyn entered the kitchen with a pink envelope letters in her hand.

"Already finished?" Mr. Dearing asked surprised.

Madelyn nodded eagerly.

"Now, that is so nice from you, Lynnie," Mr. Dearing said. "I bet Mr. Turtle is already looking forward to your letter."

When he placed the plates on the tabletop he peeked at the letter Madelyn had placed on the tabletop.

He furrowed a brow when he realized to whom the letter was addressed to.

"Mr. Turtle is a girl?" he asked surprised.

Madelyn shot him a dispraising look. "Of course not, Daddy! This is Mr. Turtle's friend and he asked me to send the letter to her."

"Ah, okay," Mr. Dearing gave back. "I will bring it to the post office tomorrow."

"Oh." Madelyn lowered her eyes. "Why not today?"

"Because I want to spend the evening with my little princess," Mr. Dearing said with a smile and poked at the little girl's arm playfully, and when that didn't work, he started tickling her.

Madelyn did her best to not laugh, but a few moments later she couldn't hold back any longer and laughed her bell-like laughter.

"Okay, okay, Daddy!" she gasped. "I give in, I give in! You can bring the letter to the post office tomorrow!"

Mr. Dearing chuckled and patted Madelyn's head. "Good girl!"

* * *

The next evening Mr. Dearing was on his way to the address on Madelyn's letter. He had informed Madelyn's teacher that he had to run some errands and would pick his daughter up a bit later from after-school care club today.

He was walking down a street now and suddenly stopped. He checked the address with the one on the letter and then straightened up and climbed the stairs.

Moments later he knocked on the door of the apartment mentioned on the letter.

A red-haired teenage girl opened to door, a questioning look in her eyes. "Yes?"

"Sorry to bother you, I am looking for an April O'Neil," Mr. Dearing said.

April looked the man over. Being haunted by aliens from another dimension and an enemy ninja clan had made her cautious to give away her name. But this man looked okay. She didn't sense anything bad about him. And if Master Splinter had taught her anything, then it was to trust her senses. Unless she wanted something so badly, her senses might mislead her. But she didn't know that man, so how could she want something from him that could mislead her senses? Did she want him to be good? Sure. Did she think she could be wrong? No. So she decided to trust her senses on this one.

"That's me," she answered.

The man's scrutiny suddenly changed into something different and he smiled at April as he retrieved a pink letter from the pocket of his jacket.

"I am Madelyn's father," he explained as he handed her the letter.

Understanding appeared in April's eyes as she took the letter from him.

"I wanted to thank you," Mr. Dearing continued. "It was so sweet from you to play along and reply to her letter as Mr. Turtle."

April smiled at him, but then she realized that one of the doors in the back of the hallway wasn't closed completely. She mentally blew a raspberry. Didn't anyone know here that eavesdropping was a sign of bad manners? Okay, maybe they did know that, but they just didn't care.

"Don't you want to come in?" April asked therefore. "For a cup of tea, maybe?"

"I'd love to!" Mr. Dearing replied.

* * *

Later they were seated at the kitchen table, each of them holding a steaming cup of tea.

"So, again," Mr. Dearing said, "thank you very much for playing along."

"You're welcome," April replied with a smile.

"My little daughter has gone through a lot lately," Mr. Dearing explained after he had taken a sip from his tea. "And due to some unforeseen circumstances we had to move into another apartment, and this really had pressed her."

"I know," April said, then she realized what she just had said. Oh geez, she wasn't supposed to know anything about this girl!

"…this must be hard," she added quickly.

"It sure is!" Mr. Dearing nodded pensively. But then he looked April in the eyes again.

"What I am really interested in," he said, "why did you do it? And how did you find that letter in the first place? I lost it quite a distance from here."

April took a deep breath. She needed to come up with a believable story. And fast!

"Well…uhm…I am a hobby photographer," she said. "And I take quite long walks in my free time with my camera to find interesting photo motives. And this pink envelope caught my photographer's eye." She gave a little smile, checking if Mr. Dearing had somehow gone suspicious of her story, but the man just smiled at her.

"And then I opened it because there was no addressee, and when I read it, it touched me. This little girl who had written that letter was waiting so desperately for an answer, so I decided to reply. I just hope I haven't made any mistakes in my letter, and she really thinks it has been written by Mr. Turtle."

"She does," Mr. Dearing reassured her.

April let out a sigh of relief. "Good."

Mr. Dearing smiled at her. "You are a very nice young lady, April O'Neil," he said. "I think another teenager wouldn't have cared. And as a sign of my thankfulness, please allow me to pay you for writing these letters."

"Nonono!" April declined. "I love writing these letters! No need to pay me for that! I won't take any money!"

"Then how about this?" Mr. Dearing went on. "I work at a monthly magazine for photographers. Okay, I am an accounts clerk there, but I know the editor. Maybe I could show him some of your pictures. It's my way of saying thank you. Would that be okay?"

April blinked a few times. "Of…course."

* * *

Later that night April was seated on the window bench of her open window, holding the pink envelope in her hands.

She didn't even turn her head as she heard a thud that announced that whom she had been waiting for was here.

"Hey, April!" she was greeted by a familiar voice as the mutant turtle walked up to her.

"Hey, Leo!" April answered, turned her head to face him and smiled at him.

"Look what I have for you," she said and handed him the pink letter.

"Wow, that was fast," Leo gave back.

"Her father brought it today."

Leo's eyes widened in surprise. "What did you tell him?"

"That I found the letter and that the way it was written touched me so much that I decided to write a reply."

"Did he believe you?"

"Of course he did!" April gave back. "And as long as I get a camera and take plenty of pictures, he will never get suspicious."

Leo raised a brow.

"Long story," April waved aside. "But I will make sure he will never find out that there really _is_ a Mr. Turtle around."

"Thank you, April." He placed a hand on her shoulder, giving her a light squeeze.

"You are welcome, Leo," April replied, then she looked down on the letter in Leo's hand. "She seems to be a really nice little girl."

Leo took his hand from April's shoulder, taking the letter in both hands, and looked down on it as well.

"She really is," he said smilingly.


	4. Love Letters?

**Chapter 04: Love Letters?**

When Leo came home after April had given him Madelyn's letter he had a small smile on his face and seemed all in all more relaxed than he had been after their encounter with Slash. It was the second time he arrived at home like this – the first time had been when he had found Madelyn's first letter – so his brothers started wondering what was going on.

When Leo walked past them, greeting them with just a slight wave, his three brothers shared a look when they heard the room to his door shut close.

"Is it only me or is Leo behaving differently the last days?" Donnie asked no-one in particular.

"I think he's more relaxed and somehow happier if that's what you mean," Mikey gave back.

"That's exactly what I mean," Donnie clarified.

Mikey just shrugged. "Well, you got your answer, then."

"And what would have caused this sudden change in Leo's behavior in your opinion, Mikey?" Donnie asked with an annoyed ring in his voice,

Mikey shrugged again. "Maybe he found a girlfriend."

"And where on earth would Leo find a girlfriend?" Raph jumped in. "It's not like we can go out on dates."

"Online dating, maybe?" Mikey suggested. "But you know what? Instead of trying to figure out why Leo is less tensed we should just be happy that he is happy, don't you think? It's not important what made him happy, it is important that he's happy. Anything else is secondary."

Donnie and Raph shared a surprised look, then Donnie turned to Mikey.

"That was pretty wise," Donnie said to his youngest brother. "For you, I mean."

Mikey beamed at him. "I know. Call me Dr. Wise-nstein."

"And _that_ wasn't," Donnie stated before he continued reading his book.

* * *

Leo let himself slump on his bed and took the letter out from where he had hidden it under his belt. He quickly yanked it open and started reading.

_Dear Mr. Turtle,_

_Thank you so, so much for your letter! It made me superhappiest!  
But you are too careful, Mr. Turtle, just like my Daddy. I can't go home alone from visiting a friend even if my friend lives on the other side of the street and all I have to do is cross the street. Daddy insists picking me up. But I am no baby! I am 7, I can cross the street alone.  
So when we are back in our old apartment you will come visit me again? I can't wait! Daddy says we can return to our apartment soon, but I think he says that for a long time now.  
I'm glad Mr. Red isn't hurt. He doesn't have to be sad. It was all Mr. Bad Guy's fault.  
I tried my best to explain to Mrs. Sparkling Hair why you can't come now. I think she understands it, but she still is angry. So maybe you should bring a red rose for her as a gift next time you come. It will make her less angry. But she still sends you her regards.  
Ruffles McBearington and the others were really happy when I told them about your letter, and they are looking forward to see you again.  
My Daddy and I watched the new animated movie about the unicorn princess this week. Have you heard of it? It was great. It is the movie to my favorite TV show. Do you have a favorite TV show?_

_Yours,  
Madelyn_

Leo chuckled. Girls and unicorns… Would he ever understand? Definitely not!

He placed the letter on the sheets and opened the drawer of his bedside table. He took the green letter paper and a pen out and grabbed the book he was reading from the bedside table. He then sat up, tugged up his legs, and placed the book on his thighs to use it as some sort of support. He placed a sheet of letter paper on the book, took the pen and started writing his reply.

When he was finished, he glanced at the clock and realized it wasn't as late as he had thought.

He pulled out his Tphone and wrote April a text message if it was okay to bring her his letter now.

While he was waiting for April to reply, he had a look at the green sealed envelope. He still didn't understand why April had insisted to buy green letter paper. He would have preferred blue over green, but April had said that after all the letters were written by Madelyn's Mr. Turtle, and that the girl would rather link him with green than with blue letters.

Leo twisted his mouth as he thought of that. Madelyn was a bright little girl. He bet she had realized his blue mask and she sure was clever enough to link him with a blue letter as well. But April had still insisted on the green, and because she had bought the letter paper, he couldn't have argued with her any longer. So, green it was.

Madelyn seemed to like giving people Nickname. Maybe Leo could persuade her to name April Miss Green.

At that moment his Tphone beeped, announcing that he had gotten a new text message. He took his Tphone in his hand, read it and then jumped to his feet.

* * *

When he had just left his room he nearly bumped into Donnie.

"Hey, Leo, I was on my way to get you for our Super Robo Mecha Force Five!-marathon. You ready?" the turtle genius asked.

"Sorry, Donnie, I have to take care of something first," Leo gave back. "Just start without me, okay."

"Uhm, okay," Donnie replied. "Where are you going?"

"April's. Later, Donnie!" And with that Leo sped up his pace. Seconds later Donnie could hear him tell Raph and Mikey in the living room that he was going to be right back.

Donnie crossed his arms over his chest. He didn't like this at all.

* * *

When Madelyn and her father got their mail out of the mailbox later that week and Madelyn spotted the familiar green envelope, she clapped her hands in joy. With a smile Mr. Dearing handed her the letter and the little girl dashed up the stairs.

When she had reached their apartment door, she called for her father: "Daddy, hurry, Daddy hurry!"

As Mr. Dearing had finally managed to unlock and open the door, Madelyn darted inside and into her room in no time.

Mr. Dearing shook his head smilingly. It was good to see his daughter this happy.

* * *

Once in her room, Madelyn disappeared in what she called her cave – a blanket strained over two chairs. Her cave was in the corner opposite her bed, and it was some sort of a reading and writing cave. The room now was even more packed with her stuff, but Madelyn didn't care. She had decided that the correspondence with Mr. Turtle was for her eyes only. Not even her dolls and plushies should be able to glance over her shoulder. This letter she had received today was hers, and hers only.

When she was seated on the pillow, she leaned her back against her wall and turned on the little reading lamp she had gotten from her dad and set up in her cave. This time it was a lamp without green tea, but the lamp was neat nonetheless. She then yanked the letter open and read it.

_Dear Madelyn,_

_I'm glad to hear my letter made you superhappiest. Your reply made me supersuperhappiest.  
I guess you are right. I am too careful, but I would never forgive me if something would happen to you. So have patience with me, okay? I will check out your new address as soon as possible and let you know when I think it is safe to come over for a visit.  
I bet your daddy just wants to make sure nothing happens to you as well. But one day he will realize that you are old enough to do certain things alone. I promise. It was the same with my father, so I know what you are talking about. It is a bit annoying, but our fathers do that because they love us.  
Understood. I am going to bring a red rose for Mrs. Sparkling Hair on my next visit. Is there anything else I can do? Is there something Ruffles McBearington and the others would like to have?  
Sorry, I haven't heard of this animated movie or the TV show, but I will try to check it out when I have the time.  
Of course I have a favorite TV show. No, actually it's two. I just love 'Space Heroes' and 'Super Robo Mecha Force Five!'. These shows are so awesome. Do you know them? Captain Ryan from 'Space Heroes' is my role model. When I grow up, I want to be just like him. He is great and brave and clever and strong. In one word: amazing.  
I hope to hear from you soon._

_Yours,  
Mr. Turtle_

With a smile Madelyn took the letter aside and grabbed pen and letter paper and the book she was using as support and started writing.

* * *

After their patrol that night Donnie had gotten back to his work in the lab. There were some new ideas for inventions in his head and he needed to at least make a few notes before he could even think of doing something else.

He had just started writing down a few things when someone entered the lab.

"Uhm, Donnie, may I ask you for a favor?" his oldest brother asked.

"What is it, Leo?" Donnie asked without looking up from his notes.

"I…uhm…was wondering if you could build me my own laptop," Leo explained.

"You can always borrow mine. Why do you need your own laptop?" Donnie asked further, again without looking up from his notes.

"I…uhm…can only borrow yours when you don't need it for work, so I thought it would be nice to have my own."

Donnie immediately stopped writing and turned his head to face his brother, raising a brow. He remembered what Mikey had said a few days ago about online dating and Leo having a girlfriend.

"Well, I think I _could_ do that," Donnie finally said.

"Thanks, bro, you are the best!"

"_If_ you help me getting all I need from the junkyard _and_ if you take over my cleaning duty for a month."

Leo gulped, his eyes widening in surprise.

"Well, it is a lot of work to build a laptop, Leo, I think this is even low priced."

Leo let out a sigh. "Okay, deal."

He held out his hand and Donnie grabbed it. But Leo wasn't too sure what he should think of Donnie's slight grin.

* * *

Donnie hadn't been lying. Building a laptop out of junk was a lot of work – generally speaking. It just wasn't a lot of work for _him_. After two days Leo's laptop was up and running, and the purple-clad turtle could concentrate on all his other projects for the rest of the month, now that Leo had taken over his cleaning duty.

Leo was grumbling from time to time how Donnie had tricked him, but there really wasn't anything he could do about it. They had made a deal. Ninja's honor and such.

So Donnie couldn't choke down a grin when he saw Leo heading for the bathrooms with all the cleaning supplies while he was on his way to his lab to spend a nice afternoon of non-cleaning work in his lab that day

When he heard April enter the lair later and greeting the others he thought it was time to join them in the living room.

Leo, still looking a bit grumpy as he set eyes on him, and April were seated on the bench, Raph was sitting on the beanbag, and Mikey was lying on the floor on his belly, his head resting on his hands. And they were all watching a Super Robo Mecha Force Five!-episode.

Donnie nodded to April and she smiled at him. He then sat down on the floor next to her, resting his back against the bench and hugging his knees.

He then turned his attention to the TV. It was one of his favorite episodes, the one where the princess kissed the scientist in the end.

And when this scene appeared on the screen he shyly glanced over to April – and his jaw dropped.

In this exact moment when April had thought no-one would watch them, she handed a letter to Leo – a pink letter.

Donnie quickly turned his head back to the TV. Leo and April didn't seem to have noticed that he had watched them.

What the heck was going on here? Why would April write Leo a letter? And it was a pink letter! Weren't love letters supposed to be pink?!

Donnie had never thought that it was ridiculous for Leo to find a girlfriend, just a bit unusual. But he would have never gotten the idea that _April_ could be this girlfriend.

He hugged his knees even tighter, his fingers digging into his skin as he tensed up. This was his worst dream come true! What was he supposed to do now?


	5. Donnie's Suspicion

_First of all, I want to thank you all for your support! I was so inspired by all your reviews, and favs, and follows that I wrote the next chapter right away. _

_Speaking of which, in this and the chapter before that, it is mentioned that Madelyn really likes a TV show about unicorns. This show is based on 'My Little Pony – Friendship is Magic', but I guess you have figured that out already. I am still not sure what name to give this show, and I need some names for the unicorns as well, so I am open for suggestions here. If you have any ideas, please feel free to share them with me via PM. If I decide to use one of your names, I will of course give you credit. Andrea O'Down, over and out._

* * *

**Chapter 05: Donnie's Suspicion**

April O'Neil got on her toes and craned her neck to get a better look on the brick building showing through some other grey buildings at the end of the street, its reddish-orange appearance forming a nice contrast to the grey in grey of the other buildings and the rainy sky.

At least April _hoped_ it was a nice contrast. With a sigh she grabbed her camera that has been dangling on its loop around her neck and took a few photographs.

She had no idea for how many times she had mentally slapped herself for not coming up with a better excuse when Mr. Dearing had asked her how she had found Madelyn's letter. Hobby photographer! Why did it have to be hobby photographer?!

Her pocket money of she didn't know how many months in advance – she was lucky if she ever got pocket money in her entire life again – had been spent on a digital camera, other photographer's equipment, and some books on the matter.

Heck, she had even registered in a hobby photographers' message board! Speaking of keeping up appearances…

The funny thing was people seemed to like the photographs she had uploaded so far. This was sort of stimulating. On the other hand, maybe they were just being nice because she was a newbie. Maybe they were just being nice to Miss Green.

April furrowed a brow. Why did she choose that nickname again? Oh, right, Leo had suggested it when she had asked him if he could help her find a nickname. No idea where that came from. She had even looked down her nose on this one, but then, Leo's explanation had made sense. Green had nothing to do with her. She had red hair and never-ever wore green clothes. People would rather connect her with a Miss Red or a Miss Yellow than a Miss Green. So choosing this nickname was another way of disguise.

Seriously, has there ever been anyone else going through this kind of stuff just to help a friend? Okay, probably yes, but for April it was a first – even kept in mind that she had to keep her four best friends, her sensei, and what really had happened to her father secret to her aunt and her friends at school.

And she was getting really good at this. If she kept this up, she maybe was becoming an even better master of deception than some certain _other_ kunoichis around. Maybe she should see this as part of her training.

And maybe she should just admit that this whole hobby photographer-thing wasn't so bad after all. The more time she spent on taking photographs, the more she started to enjoy it. It somehow helped her getting her head free. But she would never dare to tell Leo about it. When he and she were on their own she kept complaining how difficult it was to keep this whole hobby photographer-thing up, and how time-consuming her camera-tours were, time she should use for something else. He always lowered his eyes then and apologized, and April somehow enjoyed seeing him like this. She was doing most of the work here while he had all the fun, so he could at least be a little sorry.

She turned to the sky taking a photograph of a nice beam of sunlight breaking through the grey wall of clouds. And when she did so, she couldn't help, but smile.

* * *

Leo was sitting on his bed. He had finished reading Madelyn's letter yesterday, but before he could reply to it, he had to take care of something first.

Madelyn's letter had said the following:

_Dear Mr. Turtle,_

_Okay, I will do my best to be patient, and I am sure I can manage it, but I can't speak for Mrs. Sparkling Hair. And Mrs. Sparkling Hair never was patient, so I'm afraid she will be really angry with you. Maybe you should bring a bunch of red roses instead of just one. To be safe.  
I am happy that you understand me. What did you do that your father realized you are old enough to do some things alone?  
Ruffles Mc. Bearington and the others only want one thing – that you come to a tea party soon.  
You should definitely check it out! It's a great and beautiful and awesome cartoon! You will like it.  
I've heard of 'Space Heroes' and 'Super Robo Mecha Force Five!'. Some kids in my class watch it. But Daddy says it is too brutal for a little girl like me. But when I am older I reallyreallyreally want to watch it. If Mr. Turtle says it is awesome, it has to be awesome!  
Don't forget to tell me who is your favorite unicorn in your next letter._

_Yours,  
Madelyn_

And this last sentence in Madelyn's letter had forced Leo to watch some episodes of this unicorn-TV show she has been talking about. He had nearly finished watching the second episode with his earphones plugged in so that his brothers wouldn't be able to hear what he was watching, when the door to his room opened and Donnie popped his head in.

"Leo, it's your turn to clean the kitchen," the purple-masked turtle said, but he didn't get a reply from his oldest brother. On the contrary, Leo didn't even look up from the screen.

"Leo, did you hear me?" Donnie tried again, but as before there was no reaction from Leo's side. He didn't even seem to have realized that Donnie was there.

"LEO!"

This made Leo jump.

"What the…" he started, then set eyes on Donnie and quickly closed his laptop in some sort of a gesture that reminded Donnie of someone who got caught red-handed.

"What are you doing?" Donnie asked as Leo took his earphones out.

"N…nothing!" was the too quick reply.

"Suuuuuuure," Donnie drawled. "But anyway, since you are taking over my cleaning duty this month, it's your turn to clean the kitchen. I tried to mix some sort of a super-vitamin-rich drink, but the first five attempts got terribly wrong, the next three were okay, but only the last two were really worth the effort. Have fun!"

He grinned devilishly and just ignored Leo's grumbling as he left the room again.

When he was back in his lab Donnie slumped down on a chair with a sigh. He had thought that turning the kitchen into a battlefield and knowing that Leo had to clean it up would make him feel better, but he didn't feel better the tiniest bit.

Whenever he closed his eyes the image of April handing Leo a pink letter appeared in his mind's eye.

Okay, making all this mess in the kitchen and knowing he didn't have to clean it up had been a little bit of fun, but now that it was over, all his sad thoughts were back.

Maybe it would help if he did some really messy experiments tomorrow, when it was Leo's turn to clean his lab. Yeah, maybe that would help. He turned to his notes.

Now, what would a really, really messy experiment be?

* * *

With a deep sigh Leo slumped back on his bed later that afternoon, but this time on his stomach. He buried his face in his pillow, thus muffling another deep sigh. The kitchen hadn't been such a mess when he, Donnie, and Raph had tried to make breakfast, and back then it had been three ninja turtles to cause this mess. How on earth had Donnie managed to make this even messier mess on his own?

Without lifting his head Leo's hand wandered to the drawer of his bedside table and he got his letter paper and the pen out. After this cleaning-incident he was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to watch another unicorn-episode today. All these happy unicorns with their unnatural fur colors jumping around in their village, singing songs, and talking about manecuts and dresses simply was too much for him now. Seriously, he had always thought of unicorns as some sort of magical creatures, but since when did they have pink and purple fur, lived in houses and wore dresses? But he had already watched two episodes, so he could at least tell Madelyn who his favorite unicorn was so far.

With another sigh he sat up and wrote his reply.

* * *

Later that afternoon April came over for a visit. When she found the living room empty she went over to Donnie's lab.

"Hey there, Donnie," she said with a smile as she entered the lab and walked up to her friend.

"Hey, April," Donnie gave back, so focused on his messy experiments-preparations he didn't quite realize what he was saying next. "Leo's in his room."

April raised a brow. "So?" she asked.

"So what?" Donnie replied, again without looking at her.

"You said Leo was in his room," April clarified. "Why would you tell me that? It's not like I visit you boys in your rooms very often."

Donnie froze and his eyes widened in surprise. He finally took his pen aside and turned his head to face April.

"I…uhm…I…," he stammered.

"What's going on?" April probed.

"N…nothing," Donnie laughed insecurely.

"Donnie!"

The angry glance she flashed Donnie made him draw back a little and he raised his hands in an appeasing gesture.

"Okay, okay," he said. "It's just that…I…uhm…I…," – he took a deep breath – "I know yours and Leo's little secret."

"You do?" April asked surprised, receiving a nod from Donnie as a reply.

"Oh, please, pleeeeeeeease don't tell anyone!" April begged. "And please don't make fun of him!"

"Why would I make fun of him?" Now it was Donnie's turn to look surprised.

"You don't think it is funny that Leo is the pen pal of a little girl?"

"Leo is the pen pal of a little girl?" Donnie repeated.

"You mean you didn't know?" April asked. "Then what are you talking about?"

"Wait, what are _you_ talking about? Aren't Leo and you writing each other love letters?"

"What?! No!" April gave back. "Why would we do that?"

Before April could react Donnie had slung his arms around her, picked her up and twirled her around until he finally realized what he was doing and put her pack on the ground.

"Uhm, sorry," he said, lowering his eyes and sheepishly scratching the back of his head. "I got carried away, I guess."

"No big deal," April gave back.

"So, what's this whole pen pal-thing about?" Donnie asked.

"Leo is the pen pal of the little girl he met during your encounter with Slash," April explained.

"The one he had tea with? Raph mentioned that."

"Yes, that's her," April confirmed. "But please don't tell the others. And please don't make fun of him."

"Wow, this is going to be hard," Donnie mumbled.

"Donnie!" April flashed him such an angry glance, even angrier than the one before, Donnie again drew back a few steps.

"Okay, okay, I won't make fun of him," he said defensively. "I promise!"

"Good." This time April beamed at him.

* * *

Madelyn had disappeared in her cave as soon as she had received the green letter that day. A little smile appeared on her face as she was reading it.

_Dear Madelyn,_

_Thank you for being patient. I think if you try your best, you are going to be a great role model for Mrs. Sparkling Hair. Just show her what being patient is about. I bet she will understand when she has such a great teacher as you.  
But I will bring a bunch of red roses on my next visit, just in case. What are your favorite flowers, by the way? I know Mrs. Sparkling Hair loves red roses, but have no idea what your favorite flowers might be.  
I will do my best to not keep you, Mrs. Sparkling Hair, Ruffles McBearington and the others waiting too long, but until then, you all have to be patient, okay?  
I don't think I really did something to make my father realize I was old enough to do certain things alone. I just kept telling him that I was ready until one day he finally let me try. But I did because I was sure I really was ready. If you aren't sure that you are ready, Madelyn, don't try to convince your father, okay?  
Too bad you aren't allowed to watch 'Space Heroes' and 'Super Robo Mecha Force Five!', but maybe we can watch it together when you are older. What do you think?  
I was able to watch the first two episodes of this unicorn-show you told me about. And you are right it is a great and beautiful and awesome cartoon. My favorite unicorn so far is Raining Cloud Trouble. She is so brave! I mean you have to be brave if it is your duty to chase away all the raining clouds when the Princess of the Summer decides that for the sake of a rich harvest it needs to be a sunny day. Who is your favorite unicorn?_

_Yours,  
Mr. Turtle_

Madelyn giggled as she had finished reading the letter. This was so awesome! Mr. Turtle seemed to love her favorite TV show. Maybe she should draw him a picture of Raining Cloud Trouble.

And with that thought she climbed out of her cave to get her drawing block and her colored pencils.


	6. Roses and Tulips

_Thank you very much for your support and your help with the unicorn-names. I named the TV show "Unicornia" since this name is mentioned in My Little Pony as well.  
I decided to use two name suggestions, but changed them a bit. The first one is "Tallulah" by HardyGal which I turned into "Tallulah Twinkle", the second "Sweety Pie" by MutantG which I turned into "Sweetie Smile". Thanks, you two! :)  
I might need more names soon, so I'm still open to suggestions here. ;)_

* * *

**Chapter 06: Roses and Tulips**

As always Leo was smiling the whole time while he was reading Madelyn's latest letter.

This was what she had written:

_Dear Mr. Turtle,_

_I am going to be the greatest patience-teacher there is! I promise! It's just really hard because Mrs. Sparkling Hair keeps asking me when you will finally visit us again. Do you know yet when you can visit us?  
My favorite flowers are tulips. I love the pink and the purple ones best. Those are my favorite colors too.  
I really think I am ready to do things alone, so I will tell my Daddy that I am ready. Thank you for your advice, Mr. Turtle!  
I like Raining Cloud Trouble, too. She is the bravest unicorn in Sunset Ville, but my favorite unicorn is Tallulah Twinkle. She is nice and smart and she always finds a solution to any problem the other unicorns have. She even helps Raining Cloud Trouble in an episode when she gets caught by a tribe of Black Hoof Unicorns because she just jumps in there to save a fellow unicorn without thinking it through. So Tallulah Twinkle comes up with a plan and rescues them all. Oh no, now I told you too much! You still have to watch this episode! And all the other episodes there are yet. It is two seasons so far, and the third season will air in the middle of next year. I can't wait! This show is so great! And I am so happy you like it too! I drew you a picture of Raining Cloud Trouble because she is your favorite. I hope you like it!_

_Yours,  
Madelyn_

When he had finished reading, Leo put the letter aside and took the picture of Raining Cloud Trouble in his hand to have a closer look. The smile on his face grew even deeper. Now, this was one of the cutest things he had ever seen!

He then thought about when would be the best time to visit Madelyn. He knew now where the apartment block she lived in at the moment, was, he still had to figure out which window belonged to Madelyn's room, but he was sure he could manage that.

The roses he promised to bring for Madelyn's doll on the other hand weren't so easy to manage. Sure, he could ask April to buy a bunch of red roses, but first, roses were expensive and April had spent all her pocket money on photographer's equipment – seriously, couldn't she have told Mr. Dearing that she had been in that part of the city because she was walking dogs in her free time to earn a little extra pocket money? This would have been so much easier! – and second, what would Madelyn's father think when he found a bunch of red roses in his daughter's room in the morning? After all, Mr. Dearing thought April was Mr. Turtle, and why would April sneak into Madelyn's room in the first place?

No, he had to come up with a better plan. Just like Tallulah Twinkle.

When he thought that, Leo automatically slapped his hand against his forehead. Had he _really_ just used a unicorn as a reference? What was wrong with _him_?

Nonetheless, he wracked his brain to find a solution, and suddenly the smile appeared back on his face. That could probably work.

He took out his Tphone and dialed a number.

"Hey, April! It's Leo," he said when his human friend picked up. "I need your help. Again."

He grinned insecurely and he could somehow _feel_ how April rolled her eyes before she asked him what he wanted.

* * *

Now, this was getting better and better! And yes, this was meant to sound sarcastic. Not even was she forced to act like a hobby photographer thanks to Leo, no, now Mr. Turtle even had _requests_! What was coming next? Open her own photographic studio so Madelyn could start her career as a supermodel?

With a gloomy look on her face April O'Neil tromped alongside the flower beds of the New York Botanical Garden.

She really hoped she could quickly get pictures of the flowers Leo had requested and leave again. But was there even a season for tulips now? What about roses? What the heck had he been thinking?

On the other hand, what the heck had _she_ been thinking when she came up with that whole hobby photographer-excuse? But seriously, hadn't she been punished enough for coming up with a not so good excuse?

Okay, this wasn't going to work. If she kept being mad at Leo and mentally slapping herself, how would she be able to take beautiful photographs of flowers? Right, she wouldn't.

She stopped abruptly and closed her eyes. She needed to be able to focus. And she couldn't focus when all these negative thoughts were floating around in her head.

She took a deep breath, then another, and a third one, and when she opened her eyes again, she really _saw_ her surroundings for the first time since she had entered the Botanical Garden. And it was a beautiful sight. That little tree over there, for example, looked just gorgeous.

She grabbed her camera that had been dangling on its loop around her neck like always when she was on one of her photographer's tours and took a picture.

And what about these yellow flowers in front of her? She took another picture. And weren't these flowers over there not the most beautiful flowers she had ever seen? She walked over to them and took another picture.

She checked the pictures on the camera's little screen. They weren't so bad. No, actually they looked really nice.

Smilingly she lifted her head and looked around her. Now, where were those roses?

* * *

Madelyn was standing in the middle of her room, looking over to her bed where she had set up Mrs. Sparkling Hair, Ruffles McBearington and some of her other favorite toys.

"Okay," she told them. "I am doing this now." She had a determined look on her face. But suddenly her expression changed into something a bit insecure.

"And you really think I am ready for this?" she asked her audience.

After a moment of silence she nodded and the determined look appeared back on her face. "Thank you!" She clenched her fists. "I can do this!"

And with another nod towards her audience she left her room and entered the kitchen-cum-living-room.

Her father was seated on the couch, reading a book.

For a moment Madelyn stopped in the doorway, looking back over her shoulder to her toys, and it seemed to her as if they were nodding to her encouragingly. And so she took a deep breath and walked over to her father.

"Daddy," she addressed him.

""Yes, Lynnie?" Mr. Dearing put the book aside.

"I…I promised Kathy to come over for a visit so we can do our math homework together," she explained.

"Okay," her father said. "Then get your things. I will bring you there."

Madelyn grasped her hands behind her back and started bouncing on her toes, her whole appearance a bit insecure now.

"But, Daddy," she said, lowering her eyes, "Kathy lives just across the street since we moved here. I thought I could go there alone."

Mr. Dearing's eyes widened in surprise. "Lynnie, you know it is dangerous out there for a little girl…"

"But I'm no baby, Daddy!" Madelyn interrupted him, and all at once the insecurity in her voice was gone, she had stopped bouncing on her toes and looked her father directly into the eyes. "I can cross the street alone. Please let me do this!"

Mr. Dearing blinked a few times. This was new. Madelyn never insisted on doing something alone. Usually, just mentioning the word "dangerous" was enough to make her refrain from doing something alone.

He looked at his little girl. Sure, she was no baby any longer, but she still was far from being grown up, even far from being a teenager. Could she really deal with going to her friend alone? Could _he_ really deal with it?

A scene from the past appeared in his mind's eye, something he had thought he had locked away in the back of his brain with all his bad memories, although this one was a good memory – Madelyn's mother laughing at him as he was testing for the third time if their apartment really was baby-proofed. _You can't protect her from everything_, she had said with a smile. And when he remembered her words, the smile on her beautiful face, he smiled too.

"Okay, Lynnie," he said. "How about this? I accompany you to the front door of our building and then watch you from there? You can cross the street alone, but I'll be watching you, just in case. Is that okay?"

Madelyn nodded. "Yes, Daddy, that's fine."

And moments later Mr. Dearing was watching as his little girl crossed the street, and as she had arrived at the other building and Kathy had buzzed her in, she opened the front door and waved to her father. Mr. Dearing waved back, and then the door snapped shut.

Mr. Dearing sighed. Why did she have to grow up so fast?

* * *

The next night Leo showed up at April's. The teenage girl was awaiting him sitting on the window bench of her open window. Leo greeted her with a smile which she returned.

"You got what I need?" Leo asked.

"I do," April said and showed him a white envelope, but when he tried to take it she snatched it out of his reach.

"Not so fast," she said. "I went through a lot to get these, I maybe even have to add a photographic printer to my equipment if you need printed photographs more often. So I want something in return."

"And what might that be?" Leo asked cautiously.

"My aunt wants me to clean the kitchen on Monday while she is at the movie theater with one of her friends," April explained. "And she will come across the cleanest kitchen she has ever seen once she gets home. But I won't do anything. Understood?"

Leo took a deep breath, but nodded. "You talked to Donnie, didn't you?"

"Maybe," April replied with a grin.

"But April, could you _please_ promise me you won't make a mess?" he asked insecurely.

"Now, Leo, you should know I really _can't_ do that." The grin on the girl's face grew broader.

Leo just gulped.

* * *

Later that night Leo and his brothers were on patrol. And his hope that it would be an uneventful routine patrol without anything important happening had been deceived. First, they had rescued a woman from some muggers without being seen, then they had run into a group of Purple Dragons, and then they had been attacked by three Footbots on their way home. He had planned to surprise Madelyn and visit her tonight, but it had gotten later and later. Fortunately, it wasn't too late now. He could still visit Madelyn and be Mr. Turtle for some time. They were on their way back home again. What else could go wrong now?

At that moment a van turned around the corner of the street with high speed.

"Heh, it's the Kraang!" Donnie called out.

Leo mentally rolled his eyes. _You had to ask, Leo, you had to ask!_

* * *

Madelyn woke up the next morning with a smile on her face. She had had the most beautiful dream. Mr. Turtle had been here for a tea party, and it had been the best tea party ever! And when Mr. Turtle had to leave he had stroked her hair and wished her a good night.

The little girl stretched and then got up. It was Saturday and her father let her sleep in on the weekends. But she was hungry now, so she scurried into the kitchen. She thought her father would be up, and really, her father was sitting at the kitchen table, drinking his coffee and reading the newspaper.

"Good morning, Daddy!" Madelyn greeted Mr. Dearing.

"Good morning, Lynnie!" her father replied. "I got something for you." He pointed at two envelopes on the table, a green and a white one. "They're both for you. Mr. Turtle's friend April brought them this morning."

"Really?!" Madelyn cheered and grabbed both letters. The hunger was forgotten as she ran back into her room and crawled into her cave.

She turned on her reading lamp on, yanked the green envelope open, and read the letter.

_Dear Madelyn,_

_I wanted to surprise you yesterday, but it was a really busy night, and when I arrived at your place, you were already asleep. I just hadn't the heart to wake you up, so I just wished you a good night and left.  
I asked my friend to bring you the letter today so that your father won't be suspicious when there would be a letter in your room this morning.  
I love your picture of Raining Cloud Trouble! It is so beautiful!  
I asked my friend to make some beautiful photographs of red roses for Mrs. Sparkling Hair. I really wanted to bring her a bunch of red roses, but what would your father think if there suddenly was a bunch of red roses in your room? I hope Mrs. Sparkling Hair likes the photographs as much as she would like a real bunch of roses. And then there are some photos of pink and purple tulips as well. These are for you.  
I watched some more episodes of 'Unicornia', and I must confess I like Tallulah Twinkle as well. You are right, she is very smart. What do you think of Sweetie Smile? I think she is a bit annoying sometimes, but most of the time I like her. She has such a carefree nature. But sometimes her smile-smile-smile-attitude is a bit too much.  
I try to visit you again next week._

_Yours,  
Mr. Turtle_

Madelyn frowned. So Mr. Turtle really had been in her room tonight? And she had missed him? The look on her face got really sad, but then she opened the second envelope and took the photographs out. Madelyn's jaw dropped. These were the most beautiful photographs of roses and tulips she had ever seen!

She quickly crawled out of her cave again. She showed the roses-photographs to Mrs. Sparkling her.

"Look, look, look!" she said. "Aren't they beautiful?"

Then she ran into the kitchen, the photographs in her hand.

"Daddy, Daddy; look what I got!" she cried out cheerfully.

* * *

On Monday night Leo arrived at April's room. The teenage girl was lounging around in her bed, reading a magazine.

"Cleaning utensils are in the storage room next to the kitchen," she said matter-of-factly. "And do you know what happens when you warm up tomato sauce too long in the microwave?"

"N…no," Leo gave back.

"Well, then you are going to find out. Good luck!"

Leo just growled as he walked past her.


	7. Growing Up a Little

_So, did you all enjoy the new episode? Because I did! ;) Speaking of which, now with more new episodes on the way I thought of somehow referring to them in my story. What do you think? Shall I do this? Let me know via PM or review. _

* * *

**Chapter 07: Growing Up A Little**

With a sigh Leo slumped face-down on his bed like he had done so often since he had had to take over Donnie's cleaning duty. And now April had adopted this as well. Sure, he only had to clean the kitchen in her aunt's apartment once, but who knew when he would need April's help again? And maybe next time he had to clean more than just the kitchen.

Why did it always have to be cleaning? He even was having nightmares about cleaning now! And there were still three more weeks to go until he had fulfilled his and Donnie's deal. Donnie may have stopped making extra big messes now, but it was still a lot of work.

Leo had even thought of somehow tricking Mikey into taking over his own cleaning duty so he had a bit less to do. But then he had decided against it. It just wouldn't be fair. And he knew better now. Next time, he wouldn't be tricked by Donnie so easily.

He rolled on his back and took Madelyn's latest letter out of the drawer of his bedside table which April had brought this morning.

This sure would cheer him up a bit, he thought while he started reading.

_Dear Mr. Turtle,_

_I am so sorry that I missed you! Next time, you have to wake me up!  
The photographs are so beautiful! Mrs. Sparkling Hair just loves the roses-photographs, but I love the tulips-ones even more! And Mrs. Sparkling Hair said that she is okay with the photographs instead of real roses. Maybe you should bring her some new photographs next time. And I would be happy if you could bring some new tulip-photographs for me. And could you please tell your friend that Mrs. Sparkling Hair and I really love her photographs?  
I understand why you can't bring real roses. Mrs. Sparkling Hair understands it too. But I really hope I can introduce you to Daddy one day. I don't think he believes that you are real.  
I like Sweetie Smile, but I think sometimes she is really stupid. I wish she would be more serious from time to time. But her smile-smile-smile-attitude cheers me up when I feel sad.  
What is your favorite 'Unicornia'-episode so far? Have you watched the one with evil unicorn-sorcerer yet?  
And guess what? I persuaded Daddy to let me visit this friend of mine who lives just across the street, alone! He watched from the front door how I crossed the street, but I really crossed the street alone! And when I went home I called Daddy and he awaited me at our front door again. But again, I crossed the street alone! I wasn't afraid, but smiled all the time. I feel so grown up now! Thank you so much for your advice, Mr. Turtle! I knew I was ready for this! And it turned out I really was!  
Maybe now I can persuade Daddy that I am old enough to watch 'Space Heroes' and 'Super Robo Mecha Force Five!'.  
Do you go to school, Mr. Turtle? Is there a special school for talking turtles like you? And what's your favorite subject? I like school because I meet my friends there, and my favorite subject is mathematics. I am really good at it.  
Okay, it will be hard, but I will wait until next week. I can't wait to see you again!_

_Yours,  
Madelyn_

Leo put Madelyn's letter away, thinking about what the little girl had written. New photographs? So he had to ask April for some. And this surely meant more cleaning to do for him. He choked a sigh. By the end of this month he was going to be a cleaning-expert.

He took his laptop on his lap, turned it on and plugged his earphones in. He needed to catch up on Unicornia. He still hadn't watched the first season. There were ten more episodes left. All this cleaning duty had kept him from watching the show. And he still had to keep it secret from his brothers that he was the pen pal of a little girl _and_ that this little girl somehow had forced him to watch a cartoon about colorful unicorns. He did feel a bit better now after reading Madelyn's letter, but he still wasn't in a good mood now that he has realized that maybe he would have to do even more cleaning in the near future. So it was up to Sweetie Smile to cheer him up completely.

* * *

Mr. Dearing and Madelyn were on their way home. Mr. Dearing had just picked up his little girl from school and now they were walking hand in hand down the street.

They walked past a little shop, and Madelyn stopped immediately, tearing at her father's arm and so forcing him to stop as well.

"Daddy, Daddy, look!" she cried out and pointed at a DVD-box in the dressing window. "It's the first season of Space Heroes! Can I have it?"

Her father frowned. "But Madelyn, we talked about this before. This is no show for a little girl!"

"But Daddy, it's Mr. Turtle's favorite TV show and I want to be able to talk about this with him. And now that I am old enough to visit Kathy alone, don't you think I am old enough to watch this? Other girls in my class watch it too." Madelyn gave her father a puppy-eyed look. "Please, Daddy, please, please, pleeeeeeease!"

Mr. Dearing did his best to stay strong, but when he looked into Madelyn's eyes, he could feel his resistance crumbling down.

He took a deep breath. "Okay," he mumbled.

And then he flinched at Madelyn's deafening outcry of joy.

* * *

The next day April just had made herself comfortable in the living room and was looking forward to a nice, quiet evening because her aunt was working overtime today, when there was a knock at the door. She frowned. Who could that be?

She got up and glanced through the door viewer, and then opened the door as she saw Mr. Dearing outside.

"Mr. Dearing," she said with a smile. "What can I do for you?"

"Hello, April," Mr. Dearing greeted her. "Nothing, really, I'm just here to give you this."

And with that he handed April a box.

The teenage girl took it and looked at the label.

"A photographic printer?" April asked surprised.

"I…I hope you don't have one already," Mr. Dearing said. "Madelyn showed me your photographs, and they were so beautiful that I thought maybe I could contribute to your photographer's equipment. But if you already have a printer, you can always exchange it."

"No, no, that's awesome," April replied. "I don't have a photographic printer, so that's great. Thank you so, so much!"

"No, I thank you," Mr. Dearing retorted. "You are doing so much for my little girl, this is the least I can do." A smile appeared on his face. "Is it true that you even watch Unicornia now? Madelyn mentioned it a few days ago."

Unicornia? April wracked her brain until she finally remembered where she had heard of this before. It was this TV show for little girls.

"Y…yes," she stammered. "It's a cute show."

Mr. Dearing's smile deepened. "I didn't think this was a show for a teenage girl."

"I…I have unusual taste," April stated.

"I can imagine," Mr. Dearing chuckled. "Considering the fact that you like Space Heroes, that is."

April laughed insecurely. "Yeah…that."

They stood there for a moment in silence, until April's eyes widened in shock.

"Oh my god, where are my manners?" she burst out. "Don't you want to come in?"

"No, thank you, April, I just wanted to bring you this printer. I am on my way to pick Madelyn up from the after-school care club, so actually I don't have much time," Mr. Dearing replied.

"Okay, then just give me a second." And with that April disappeared inside the apartment, and when she came back, she handed Mr. Dearing the familiar green envelope.

"Here you go," she said with a smile.

"Thank you, April," Mr. Dearing replied as he took the letter. "Oh, and don't forget to give me some of your photographs. I still want to show them to our editor. If they are as beautiful as your flower-photographs are, I bet he wants to present them in the magazine."

"Oh, wow, that would be awesome!" April burst out. "Thank you so much, Mr. Dearing!"

"You're welcome. See you soon!"

"Bye, Mr. Dearing!"

* * *

When Leo arrived at April's this night after their patrol, his human friend was already awaiting him sitting on her window bench.

"You wanted to see me, April?" Leo asked cautiously. He hoped she hadn't come up with more cleaning duty for him.

"Yes, I actually wanted to thank you," April said.

"Thank me? What for?" Leo asked surprised.

"Because without you I would never have realized how much fun photographing is," April explained. "And it turned out that I am quite good. So thanks for that, Leo." She gave the mutant turtle a little smile which Leo returned.

"So, I don't have to do any cleaning for you again?" Leo asked. "Because I might need some more flower-photographs from you."

April's smile turned into a grin, a devilish grin. "Well, Leo, I didn't say _that_."

When Leo heard that, his face just fell.

He remembered Madelyn had asked him to tell April how beautiful she thought her photographs were, but there was no way he would tell her this now.

* * *

Madelyn was sitting in her cave again, but this time she had taken Mrs. Sparkling Hair with her which was now seated beside her. The little girl just couldn't have taken it any longer how reproachful the doll had been looking at her and had decided to let her inside her cave just this time to show her what she was doing in there.

She yanked the letter open, but before she started reading she took Mrs. Sparkling Hair and placed her on her lap so that the doll could have a better look at the letter. Then she started reading.

_Dear Madelyn,_

_Oh no, you are a little girl and you need your sleep. I'll just make sure to show up earlier on my visit next week.  
Let's wait with the introducing, okay? I don't think your father is ready for that now.  
Speaking of being ready, I am really proud of you. Persuading your father to allow you to let you go to your friend all by yourself really is something. And he might not admit it, but I bet he is proud of you too. Looks like you have grown up a little.  
You are right about Sweetie Smile. She cheered me up when I was feeling a bit sad yesterday.  
And yes, I have watched the episode with the evil sorcerer. And I think this is my favorite episode so far. It was exciting, and I liked Tallulah Twinkle's plan to defeat the sorcerer very much. It was well-thought-out. I think she is a good leader. She tries her best to keep her teammates out of danger and still come up with great plans to defeat their enemies. This is what a true leader has to accomplish.  
Fingers crossed that your father allows you to watch 'Space Heroes' and 'Super Robo Mecha Force Five!'! Then we would have more awesome TV shows to talk about.  
No, unfortunately there is no special school for talking turtles. There are just a few of us, so my brothers and I were home-schooled. And our education differs a bit from what you might know because we were trained to be ninjas. But I guess you could say physical education is my favorite subject.  
I can't wait to see you again as well, Madelyn! I am doing my best that we can finally meet face-to-face next week._

_Yours,  
Mr. Turtle_

With a smile Madelyn took the letter away and grabbed her letter paper and pen. She couldn't wait to tell Mr. Turtle that her father had bought her the first season of Space Heroes!

But before she started writing she smiled down at her doll.

"See, Mrs. Sparkling Hair?" she said. "I told you Mr. Turtle writes the most beautiful letters in the world. Now what should we answer him? Do you have an idea?"

It seemed to Madelyn as if Mrs. Sparkling Hair had nodded.

"Really? Well, then tell me more about it."


	8. Cheering Mr Turtle Up

**Chapter 08: Cheering Mr. Turtle Up**

The next morning Mr. Dearing was just getting ready for leaving the apartment when he called out for his daughter.

"Lynnie, are you ready?" he asked.

"Yes, Daddy!" was the answer and moments later Madelyn left her room and went over to her father, schoolbag already on her back.

Mr. Dearing frowned when he realized she had no pink letter in her hand.

"No letter for Mr. Turtle today?" he asked.

"Yes, of course!" Madelyn gave back. "It's in my bag."

"Don't you want me to bring it to the post office today?" her father asked further.

"Not today, Daddy," Madelyn replied. "I have a favor to ask, Daddy. Could we please visit Mr. Turtle's friend today? I have something for Mr. Turtle and it doesn't fit into the envelope. So I want to give it to her in person. Could we do that, pleeeeeeeease?"

Her father smiled at her and stroked her hair. "Of course we can," he said. "I actually think it's a good idea that you meet her."

Madelyn beamed at him. "Thanks, Daddy!"

* * *

So at the evening of the same day April opened the door to a little girl and her father.

"Hello, Mr. Dearing," April greeted the man and then looked at the little girl. "And you must be Madelyn," She beamed at Madelyn who just eyed her up frowningly.

"I am," Madelyn said. "And you are Mr. Turtle's friend?"

"Yes." April kept smiling even if she hadn't missed the slightly unfriendly ring to Madelyn's voice. "Don't you want to come in?"

"Of course." Madelyn just walked past her when April stepped aside.

The teenage girl gave Mr. Dearing a questioning look, but he just smiled apologetically and mumbled, "She is a bit shy sometimes."

Shy? This was supposed to be _shy_?! April's eyes widened in surprise.

When the tea was ready April joined Madelyn and Mr. Dearing at the kitchen table, pouring each of them a cup of tea. She was really glad that her aunt had told her that she was meeting a friend after work. Her aunt was already thinking that April had some strange friends and did some strange things with all this roaming around she was doing. And the sudden interest in photographing had only contributed to that.

"So, how are you doing, Madelyn?" April asked with an insecure smile.

"I'm fine." The little girl was still eyeing her up. "Are you really Mr. Turtle's friend?"

"Of course I am!" April gave back.

"What's the color of his mask?"

"Blue."

"His skin color?"

"Green."

"Swords or wand?"

"Swords."

Madelyn gave her a piercing glance once more, and then suddenly the earnest look on her face turned into a friendlier one and she smiled at April for the first time.

"Now I know you really are Mr. Turtle's friend," she said.

"Heh, I totally understand," April told her. "Better safe than sorry."

Madelyn just nodded, then rummaged around in her schoolbag and retrieved one of her pink letters which she placed in front of April on the kitchen table. She reached into her bag once more and took out a doll which she placed near the pink envelope.

"The letter and Mrs. Sparkling Hair are for Mr. Turtle," Madelyn explained. "Could you please give them to him?"

"Of course!" April assured.

"Thank you!"

"You're welcome."

"Oh, I almost forgot," Madelyn said happily. "I reallyreallyreally love your photographs?"

"Reallyreallyreally?" April repeated.

"Yesyesyes!" Madelyn confirmed.

And then they both looked at each other and burst out laughing.

* * *

When Madelyn and her father left, the little girl waved at April. Madelyn went over to the staircase, but before she started to climb them down, she looked back at her father who had stopped at the open door of the apartment.

"I'll be right there, Madelyn! Just wait a second, okay?" Mr. Dearing called over to his daughter who responded with a nod, and then turned to April.

"Thank you for your amazing playing along," he mumbled. "How come you know so many details about Mr. Turtle?"

"Uhm…that's because I am…uhm…amazing at playing along," April gave back with a smile.

"Madelyn seems to like you," Mr. Dearing went on. "I know you are already doing so much for her, but might I ask you for another favor? I am looking for a babysitter for Madelyn. I pay well, of course. Are you interested?"

April thought about it for a moment. "Why not?" she finally said. "She is a nice little girl."

Mr. Dearing patted her shoulder. "Thanks a lot, April." And with that he caught up with his daughter, they both waved at April once more and then climbed down the stairs.

When April closed the door of the apartment she thought about this for a moment. First hobby photographer, now babysitter? Not bad. She smiled self-confidently as she returned to the kitchen.

* * *

When April arrived at the lair the next day she walked right to Leo's room, when Donnie had told her that his big brother was in his room doing who-knows-what on his laptop.

After knocking at the door for the third time and not getting an answer, April cautiously opened the door. There he was, sitting on his bed, his earphones plugged in, and so riveted by whatever he was watching on his laptop that he didn't seem to notice she was there.

April just smiled as she walked over to him. She had a slight idea what Leo was watching there, and her smile suddenly turned into a smirk as she decided she wanted to find out for sure. She made sure not to make a noise until she was standing next to him and glanced over his shoulder.

_Gotcha!_

"Oh, is that a Unicornia-episode?" she asked, being sure that so close to him he must hear her even with his earphones plugged in.

And he sure did hear her. Leo literally jumped to his feet, nearly throwing his laptop away, but then grabbing it tighter as he looked at April.

Leo, now standing on his bed, slowly shut his laptop closed and took out his earphones.

"Maybe," he said cautiously.

April just raised a brow, and with a sigh Leo slumped down into a sitting position again.

"Okay, yes, it was," he admitted.

"I knew it," April said with a grin and sat down at the edge of the bed.

"It's Madelyn's favorite TV show," Leo explained before he frowned at April. "How come you suddenly show up in my room?"

"Oh, I just wanted to be sure, no-one watches when I give you this," April said as she retrieved Madelyn's letter from her messenger bag.

Leo took the letter with a frown. April had handed him Madelyn's letters so many time before in secret while his brothers were around, why would she insist on giving it to him here in his room now?

"And this," April went on and handed Leo Madelyn's doll.

_Okay, that could be the reason._

"A doll?" Leo asked.

"You sure it's no action figure?" April asked chuckling.

"Haha, very funny. Why would Madelyn give me her doll?"

April shrugged and got up. "Dunno. Maybe she explains it in her letter." And with that she left, closing the door behind her.

Leo frowned at the doll. What was he supposed to do with a doll?

He then yanked the letter open and read what Madelyn had written.

_Dear Mr. Turtle,_

_You said in your letter that you were feeling sad. I talked to Mrs. Sparkling Hair about it. She and me were reading your letter together. I hope it is okay that now Mrs. Sparkling Hair knows what you write. It made me sad to hear that you were sad and needed Sweetie Smile to cheer you up. And suddenly Mrs. Sparkling Hair suggested that maybe we can ask your human friend to bring her to you so that she can cheer you up. She is not as good a cheerer as Ruffles McBearington but she is very good. And she insisted on doing this for you because she missed you so much. But please don't tell her that Ruffles McBearington is a better cheerer. She hates it when someone is better than her. And I am sure she is doing her best to cheer you up. So next time you feel sad Mrs. Sparkling Hair is there to cheer you up.  
The evil sorcerer-episode is really good, but the episode where Sweetie Smile's big sister marries is even better. She and her fiancé are so in love! It is the bestet episode ever!  
What's a ninja, Mr. Turtle? And how many brothers do you have? Do you have sisters too? I like physical education too, but I like mathematics more.  
Oh, Mr. Turtle you will be even prouder of me now! Daddy bought me the first season of 'Space Heroes' and I already watched the first episode. And I really like it! Captain Ryan is very brave. He reminds me of Tallulah Twinkle.  
Fingers crossed twice that we can meet next week!_

_Yours,  
Madelyn_

Leo looked down at the doll sitting next to him. So Madelyn had sent it to him to cheer him up, to make him feel better? He smiled as he carefully took one of the doll's hands between two fingers and gently shook it.

"Hello, Mrs. Sparkling Hair," he said warmly. "I am Leo."

* * *

Madelyn had curled up in bed that night, holding Ruffles McBearington close to her. She wondered if Mr. Turtle was going to be nice to Mrs. Sparkling Hair. But why shouldn't he be nice? Mrs. Sparkling Hair surely was a bit _special_ from time to time, but all in all she was nice.

Madelyn crawled out from under her sheets, hugging her teddy bear even tighter and went over to the window.

She looked outside at the small cutout of night sky she could see between the surrounding buildings.

"Good night, Mr. Turtle," she said. "Good night, Mrs. Sparkling Hair."

And with that she crawled back into her bed. And the moment her head hit the pillow she fell asleep. And whatever she was dreaming conjured a smile on her face. Maybe she was dreaming about unicorns. Or maybe she was dreaming about Mr. Turtle. Or something else. Whatever it was, it sure was lovely.

* * *

The next afternoon during after-school care Madelyn was sitting in the reading corner. The other children were playing board games or drawing or doing anything else but reading. So Madelyn had the reading corner for herself. She took out the letter April had brought to their apartment this morning before school – Leo sure had to promise her something for doing this, probably something that included cleaning – and started reading it.

_Dear Madelyn,_

_Thank you very much for sending Mrs. Sparkling Hair to me. She is very nice and I think she has settled in quite well. We are still looking for the perfect sleeping berth for her. You have any ideas? Where does she like to sleep? Bed or hammock?  
And I am sure she will cheer me up when I am sad the next time. And no worries, I will never tell her that Ruffles McBearington is a better cheerer.  
So Mrs. Sparkling Hair is going to cheer me up when I am sad and Ruffles McBearington is going to cheer you up when you're sad? I think this is a pretty good solution.  
I am going to watch the wedding-episode today or tomorrow. I bet she is good. If you like it, I am sure I am going to like it as well. I read on the 'Unicornia'-website that there is an impostor showing up in this episode. Can't wait to find out what is going to happen!  
Ninjas are some sort of superheroes. We do nightly patrols and help people and fight our enemies. So if you are in danger, just let me know. I will come and save you.  
I have three brothers, and April is a very close friend. Now that I think of it she is some sort of a sister to me.  
What about you? Are you an only child?  
You really did that? Madelyn, you have no idea how proud I am right now! You sure are growing up now. Good job!  
I know, right? Captain Ryan is awesome! Isn't the first episode a great introduction of him? I mean you learn nearly anything you need to know about him in this one episode! You learn that he is brave, clever, a very good strategist, and a good fighter. Wait till you watch the episode in which he gets captured and has to fight in an arena. His plan to get out of there is simply brilliant!  
What do you think of the Dauntless? Isn't that a great spaceship?  
Fingers and toes crossed that we can meet next week!_

_Yours.  
Mr. Turtle_

With a smile on her face Madelyn tucked the letter away. She was happy that Mr. Turtle seemed to take such good care of Mrs. Sparkling Hair. Her favorite doll was really demanding, and if she hadn't complained to Mr. Turtle about anything yet, it must mean that Mr. Turtle really was doing a good job.

Madelyn thought if she should start writing her reply now. Or maybe she should draw a picture of Captain Ryan for Mr. Turtle? He really liked her pictures, so why not do this?

The little girl nodded determinedly and walked over to a free table.


	9. Babysitting

_Okay, time to answer some questions. ;) _

_I was asked if Mrs. Sparkling Hair was a gift from Madelyn's mother. To be honest, I haven't thought of that before. But it's an interesting thought. Maybe I will use that. :)_

_As for the MLP-references: Yes, I am a MLP-fan. ;) I didn't like season 3 so much, especially not that they turned Twilight into a princess, but season 4 didn't turn out as bad as I was afraid it might be._

_About the internet-thing, I guess I have to make some things clear: Leo didn't get the laptop to e-mail Madelyn. He got it to watch the TV show she loves so much online. And he and Madelyn aren't going to use the internet. Madelyn is a seven-year-old girl and thus isn't allowed to use the internet she sure wouldn't want her father to look over her shoulder while she is writing Mr. Turtle an e-mail. So Leo and Madelyn will stick to writing letters or meeting in person. _

_Okay, that's it, back to the story! ^^_

* * *

**Chapter 09: Babysitting**

_Dear Mr. Turtle,_

_Mrs. Sparkling Hair loves beds, especially king-size beds with pink bedclothes. So if you can find something like that for her, that would be great.  
Yes, I think this is a pretty good solution too. We both have our cheerers, and this is great.  
You will be so surprised when you find out who the impostor is! It was a big surprised to me. I nearly screamed when the impostor was discovered. It was so exciting!  
So you are a superhero? That's good. I always wanted to know a superhero and now I do. Do you capture bad guys? What about the ones that robbed the bank two streets from here last week? Daddy told me about it. Did you fight them and get the money back?  
Yes, I am an only child. Mommy went away to live with the angels when I was a baby and since then Daddy and me were on our own.  
Thank you, Mr. Turtle! Maybe soon I can go to school all by myself. Or maybe my superhero can watch over me when I do that.  
Captain Ryan is awesomest! I drew a picture of him for you. And the Dauntless is great too. I wanted to draw a picture of her, but it didn't turn out the way I wanted, so I will make a new one. I will send it to you when I think it's good.  
I watched the arena-episode with Daddy yesterday, and it was so exciting. I was a bit scared when the monsters showed up, but I didn't show Daddy because I am growing up and only little girls are scared of monsters. And when Captain Ryan came up with this great plan I wasn't scared any longer.  
Daddy told me that April is my new babysitter. She is really nice and I can't wait to spend time with her! Maybe you, April and me can do something together one day. What do you think?  
But first, I want to meet you alone for a tea party. _

_Yours,  
Madelyn_

With a smirk Leo opened the drawer of his bedside table and laid the letter inside to all the other letters he had gotten from Madelyn so far. His eyes fell on Mrs. Sparkling Hair which was in there together with all the letters and the pictures she had drawn for him.

Okay, this was no king-size bed and the letters sure were no bedclothes, but considering the fact, that the drawer was pretty big compared to a doll and the letters were pink, Leo decided that it was close enough.

_Just don't ever tell Madelyn you put her precious doll inside a drawer_, Leo thought. But on the other hand, how was she ever going to find out? It wasn't like she could visit him here.

He then looked at the picture of Captain Ryan the little girl had drawn. This actually was the first picture he didn't have to hide inside the drawer. He got up and carried the picture over to the shelf he used to store all his Space Heroes-merchandise. There were comics there, and action figures, even a Space Heroes-coffee mug. The wall behind the shelf was covered in posters of the show. With a smile Leo pinned Madelyn's pic next to one of the posters. If his brothers would make any fun of it – okay, _more_ fun than they already made of his "Space Heroes-shrine" how they called it – and ask him where he got that from, he could always tell them that it was a pic he had drawn when he was little and which he had now recovered in one of the boxes he stored his old stuff in.

He stepped back and looked at the posters and Madelyn's pic. This fitted very well.

He then marched back to his bed and took out his letter paper. Now what to reply to Madelyn?

* * *

April O'Neil was on her way to the cafeteria when suddenly her phone rang. She literally jumped when she heard the familiar ring. Hadn't she muted that? Good thing it already was lunch hour and this hadn't happened during class. She rummaged in her messenger back and when she finally found the phone, she picked up quickly.

"Yes, Mr. Dearing?" she asked.

She and Mr. Dearing had exchanged their phone numbers the other day when Mr. Dearing had brought April Madelyn's latest letter. Sure, Mr. Dearing could have sent the letter by mail and added his phone number to it, but he had wanted to inform April that Madelyn was fine with having have her as her new babysitter – more than fine, to be honest. The little girl had been really excited and happy and had been dancing through the apartment.

So April wasn't that surprised that Mr. Dearing called her.

"Hello, April," Madelyn's father said. "I know this is a bit on short notice, but are you free this afternoon? Madelyn needs to be picked up from the after-school care club at around four, because they close a bit earlier today. But an urgent matter has popped up here at work, and I am sure I won't be able to get out of the office before seven. So do you think you could take care of Madelyn until then? If you don't have time, that's okay. I could call one of her friends' mothers as well, but you know how much she likes you and…"

"That's fine, Mr. Dearing," April interrupted him, smilingly rolling her eyes at his monologue. "I have some free time this afternoon, so that's totally fine."

"Thanks a lot, April!" Mr. Dearing said with a sigh of relief. "You have no idea how much you help me here. I owe you. So I am going to call Madelyn's after-school-care-teacher now and let her know that you are going to pick Madelyn up today. Thanks again, April!"

"You are welcome, Mr. Dearing," April said with a smile.

* * *

So later that day April showed Madelyn in her aunt's apartment.

The little girl shambled inside and looked around, scanning everything around her with a frown on her face.

April watched her. _Oh, right, this was supposed to be shy._

"Madelyn, I have something for you. I'll be right back," April said and went to her room just to return moments later with a green letter in her hand which she handed to the little girl.

"Why don't you read the letter while I make you a sandwich?" April suggested with a smile.

The little girl just nodded and sat down on the couch.

April made sure that Madelyn was okay and then left for the kitchen.

Madelyn yanked the letter open and read what Mr. Turtle had written.

_Dear Madelyn,_

_I think I found a nice sleeping berth for Mrs. Sparkling Hair. It's not a king-size bed with pink bedclothes, but it's pretty close. I think she likes it.  
It was quite a surprise who the impostor was. Never would have thought of that! You are right, it really was an exciting episode.  
Yes, we do capture bad guys, but I'm afraid we haven't captured the bad guys who robbed the bank. As far as I know the police has captured them already and got the money back. But we will have a close look on the neighborhood, just to make sure there aren't any copycats showing up.  
I'm sorry to hear that about your mother. My sensei's wife left many years ago to live with the angels as well. Maybe the two of them know each other or maybe they even are friends now.  
Let me know when your father allows you to go to school alone. I'll be watching over you then.  
I love your Captain Ryan-pic. It is really beautiful. And I can't wait to see a picture of the Dauntless drawn by you. I bet it is going to be awesome.  
You were afraid? No, Madelyn, you don't have to be afraid. Captain Ryan always finds a way out of tricky situations. That's why he is so awesome!  
April is your new babysitter? That's great! And yes, I would love if you, she and I can do something together. But our tea party comes first.  
Can't wait to see you again!_

_Yours,  
Mr. Turtle_

* * *

After Madelyn had finished her sandwich, she shifted the now empty plate a bit away and looked at April.

"April, can I borrow some letter paper and an envelope from you? I want to write my reply to Mr. Turtle," she asked.

"Of course you can," April answered.

"Do you have pink letter paper?" Madelyn asked further.

"I am afraid not, but I think it will be okay if you don't use pink letter paper this time." And with that April guided Madelyn to her room.

"Just wait here for a moment, okay?" April demanded with a smile and positioned herself in front of Madelyn. The little girl watched this with a frown on her face. What was going on here?

The next moment Leo climbed inside through the open window.

"Okay, April, what is so urgent that it can't wait till tomorrow?" he asked.

"That!" April said with a broad grin and stepped aside to reveal Madelyn.

The little girl squeaked with pleasure before she ran over to her Mr. Turtle and flung her arms around his shell as far as they reached.

"Madelyn?!" Leo asked unbelievingly, but when the little girl hugged him, he smiled, placed one hand on her back and stroked her head gently with the other.

He then looked at April, mouthing a "thank you". April just beamed at him.

"Okay," she said then, "you two have a lot of catching up to do. I'll leave you alone now."

And with that she left the room and closed the door behind her.

* * *

With a sigh Mr. Dearing closed the front door of the building he worked in. This sure had been a hard day. He glanced at his watch. And a long day as well. With another sigh he started walking down the street, thinking about how April was doing with Madelyn and if his daughter had been nice. He was so lost in thought that when he crossed the street, he forgot to look left and right.

He only turned his head when he heard the screeching of brakes. And then he saw it – headlights! Close, very close, too close. He felt a push, and then everything went dark.

* * *

April closed her books. She had finally finished her homework. She glanced at the kitchen clock and frowned. It was getting late. Maybe she should tell Leo to leave because Mr. Dearing could show up any minute now. At least her aunt wasn't going to be home soon because she was meeting a friend after work. And this was the reason she had texted Leo to come over for a visit while Madelyn was reading her letter.

A smile appeared on her face as she thought of how surprised and happy Leo and Madelyn had been.

That moment her phone rang. April looked at the number and picked up.

"Is work keeping you away longer, Mr. Dearing? Don't overwork yourself!" she scolded playfully, but then she suddenly turned serious. "What?"

Moments later she opened the door to her room where Madelyn and Leo were kneeling on the floor, laughing and chatting. They turned their heads to look at April, but the concerned look on April's face made Leo frown.

"April, what's wrong?" he asked.

"Madelyn, your father was involved in a car accident," April said.

Madelyn froze, looking at April in shock.

"Did Daddy go away to live with the angels?" she asked with tearful eyes.

April tried to get what that meant, and finally realized.

"Nononono!" she said quickly. "He is going to be okay, just a broken leg. But he hit his head and was unconscious for a little while. They want to make sure he is okay, so he has to stay at the hospital for the night."

"Daddy doesn't go away to live with the angels?" Madelyn asked.

"No, Madelyn," April assured her.

And the next moment Madelyn was hugging Leo so tightly the mutant turtle was glad he had a shell or otherwise the little girl might have broken a few ribs. Madelyn was crying so fiercely, her whole body was shaking with sobs.

"Don't go away, Daddy!" she sniveled. "Stay with me, Daddy! Don't go to Mommy!"

"No, Madelyn, your father is okay," Leo said, stroking her head, but the little girl didn't seem to hear and kept on sniveling and telling her father to stay with her.

* * *

April was sitting at the kitchen table when Leo entered the room.

"How is she doing?" the teenage girl asked.

"She has finally fallen asleep," Leo replied. "She kept on telling her father not to leave her alone."

"You told me she lost her mother when she was a baby," April said. "I bet the poor darling has separation anxiety."

"Guess so," Leo stated as he sat down next to her. "So what do we do now?"

"I am sure that my aunt is okay with Madelyn staying overnight," April said. "And tomorrow we will visit her father at the hospital. And then we will see from there." April shrugged. "That's all I came up with so far."

"Pretty good," Leo approvingly, then looked into the direction where April's room was. "Think she is going to be alright?"

"Of course," April said with an encouraging smile. "She is strong."

Leo looked at April again. "I hope you're right."

"I am _always_ right," the redhead gave back with a smirk, trying to cheer Leo up with acting a bit cocky.

And this finally conjured a smile on Leo's face that had been so concerned just a moment ago.

And her success made April smile as well.


	10. Not Letting Go

_Okay, I guess I have to get something clear about Mr. Dearing's accident: He has only broken his leg, but was unconscious for a little while and that's why he had to stay at the hospital for the night. It's exactly what April told Madelyn in the last chapter. But I'm saying it again because some people seemed to have read over it. ;)_

_As for the questions or suggestions of Madelyn having a sister or being Casey Jones' little sister, please keep in mind that I write Madelyn as an only child in my story. She evens says in one of her letters herself that she is an only child. Just pointing that out, because, again, some people seemed to have read over it. ;)_

* * *

**Chapter 10: Not Letting Go**

There was a knock on the door and Mr. Dearing got up from the couch and walked to the door on his crutches. The moment he opened the door Madelyn darted inside, flung her arms around his waist and hugged him as tight as her little girl's strength allowed her to do.

"Daddy, you're okay!" Madelyn gave a relieved sigh.

"Of course I am," Mr. Dearing gave back, trying his best to keep his balance on the crutches without straining his leg in plaster.

Mr. Dearing turned to April who was standing outside, looking at him through the open door.

"Hello, April," he said with a smile. "Thanks for your help again."

"You are welcome," April replied.

"Don't you want to come in?" he asked the teenage girl, trying to gently relieve himself from Madelyn's hug, but the little girl was still hugging him so tightly with no attempt of ever letting go, and when Mr. Dearing realized that he choked a sigh.

"No, thanks, Mr. Dearing," April replied. "I have a bunch of homework to do and a test tomorrow, so sorry, but not today. When should Madelyn be picked up tomorrow morning?"

"At seven, like always," Mr. Dearing explained. "Thanks again, April! You have no idea how much you are helping me here."

"Don't mention it," April said. "My father was a single father as well. I somehow know how hard this must be."

"Was?" Mr. Dearing repeated. It was the first time April actually mentioned her father. "What happened to him?"

April lowered her eyes, fighting back the tears that were suddenly trying really hard to make their way to her eyes, but succeeded. "He…disappeared," she finally said without looking at Mr. Dearing. "He didn't come back home one evening. We have no idea what happened to him. But I guess he has been kidnapped."

"I am sorry to hear that. But I am sure he is doing his best to come back to you," Mr. Dearing said and if he hadn't still been fighting hard to keep his balance he would have placed a reassuring hand on April's shoulder, but under the circumstances he had to limit himself to a reassuring smile.

April somehow must have felt it because she finally looked up, giving him a little smile in return.

"Anyway," April said, letting the subject of her disappeared father drop, "I'm coming to pick up Madelyn up tomorrow morning at seven. Got it. See you tomorrow, Mr. Dearing! Bye, Madelyn!"

The teenage girl waved at the little girl, but Madelyn didn't see it. She was still clinging to her father.

"Bye, April," she said, her voice muffled by her father's pullover because she was pressing her face against him.

April smiled once again and then turned around and left.

Mr. Dearing fortunately managed to close the door without losing his balance. He then gently pushed his daughter away, this time with a little more force.

"It's okay, Lynnie, you can let go now," he said.

Madelyn lifted her head to look at him and then hesitantly let go of him.

"Good girl," Mr. Dearing said with a smile.

He then walked to the kitchenette on his crutches. Madelyn followed him, watching his every move closely.

* * *

The next morning as April and Madelyn were on their way to Madelyn's school, the older girl had taken the younger one by the hand. It had again taken minutes to persuade Madelyn to let go of her father. April understood why Madelyn was so clingy right now, she understood it all too well. She just wished there was something she could do to make the little darling feel better. But all she could do right now was treating her like she usually did. And letting her know that she was there when Madelyn needed her.

Or maybe talking about a subject Madelyn really liked.

"So did Mr. Turtle and you have a good time back when you were at my place?" April asked.

"Yes," Madelyn answered. "We had a really great time. Until you told me that Daddy nearly had went away to live with the angels."

The teenage girl mentally slapped herself. _Now that was very smooth, April!_

"Did you write Mr. Turtle a letter yet?" she asked further.

"No," Madelyn replied. "I didn't have time. I have to watch over Daddy."

April gave the little girl's hand a reassuring squeeze. "I understand."

"Do you think Mr. Turtle does understand too?"

"I bet!" April replied.

Madelyn looked at her for a moment and gave her a little smile.

"You know, April, I always wonder when Mr. Turtle finds the time to write letters to me," Madelyn said then.

"Why's that?"

"Well, Mr. Turtle said he is a ninja, some sort of a superhero," the little girl explained. "And if he has to fight the bad guys every day, how does he have the time to write me?"

"You are very important to Mr. Turtle, Madelyn," April said. "He will always find time for you."

The little girl considered that for a moment, but then she turned to April again.

"Are you a superhero too, April?" she asked the teenage girl.

"You mean a ninja?"

Madelyn nodded.

"I am," the teenager said with a confident smile. "I am a kunoichi, to be precise. That's what a female ninja is called."

"And can I be a kuuuu…"

"…noichi."

"And can I be a ku…no…ichi as well?"

"If you want to, why not?" April smiled at the girl.

"I want to. What do I need to do?"

"Why don't you ask Mr. Turtle about that? He is a ninja for a longer time than I am, he knows more about this."

Madelyn nodded determinedly. "I will."

"But why do you want to be a ninja all of a sudden, Madelyn?" April asked curiously. "When I picked you up from after school-care that…day, you were only talking about unicorns and Mr. Turtle."

Madelyn's face turned serious and she furrowed her brow. "I want to protect Daddy," she said gravely.

April lowered her eyes for a moment, then she gave Madelyn's hand another squeeze and looked at her with a smile.

"I think you are going to be a great ninja."

"Really?" Madelyn looked at her gleefully. "Do you think I can have a pink suit?"

"A pink suit?"

"Yes, superheroes have suits, dummy!"

"Oh, yeah, sure." April chuckled.

"I want mine to be pink. And do you think I can have a belt with a lot of glitter? I love glitter!"

"Sure!" April beamed at the little girl. _A pink ninja with a glittering belt?_ She smirked at the thought.

Madelyn kept talking about how her superhero-suit would look like with sparkling eyes.

April just smiled at her, happy that the little girl seemed to have forgotten about her fears for a little while.

* * *

April was sitting at the window bench of her open window again, her little red radio at her feet, and listening to some music. She was thinking about Madelyn. Her chatting about what she would wear as a ninja/superhero had been lasting for their walk to Madelyn's school. But when April had picked the little girl up from after school-care she had been so serious again, and the first thing she had asked had been if her father was still here and hadn't left to live with the angels. April had appeased her with telling her that she had just talked to her father on the phone. This had worked, but the frown on Madelyn's face hadn't disappeared before she had seen her father. And again, the moment Mr. Dearing had opened the door Madelyn had been clinging to him.

April had wracked her brain what to do to make Madelyn feel better. She knew exactly what the little girl was going through. She herself had lost her father twice – first when he had been kidnapped by the Kraang, and second when he had been mutated, and this maybe meant she had lost him forever. She still had hopes that Donnie might find a cure, but for the moment her father was gone.

She thought of the time when her father had been back, when they had lived together again. It had been hard at the beginning. Her father had been disturbed by nightmares. She remembered the nights when he had woken up screaming and she had sprinted to his room to calm him down.

But she knew exactly why Madelyn had so many problems with separating from her father. She hadn't been able to leave Kirby alone for a few days either. She always had had to check if he had still been there, afraid all might have been a dream. She remembered the relief all too well when she had opened the door to the apartment and found her father sitting on the couch or preparing dinner in the kitchen. The first week she had hugged him just to make sure that he really had been there. So she knew how the little girl felt. But after a while April had realized that her father's return had been for real.

And this seemed to be the point Madelyn had problems with. She just couldn't believe her father was okay. She needed to see him to be sure about that. But given the fact that Madelyn was a seven-year-old girl and thus very young, maybe it wasn't so unusual after all. But Madelyn suffered when she was separated from her father, she was anxious and tensed, and April knew from Mr. Dearing that his daughter had problems falling asleep and woke up several times at night. He knew that because Madelyn always walked to his bed when she had woken up again to make sure he was still there. He himself was physically too restricted at the moment due to his crutches and the plaster to check on her. And the painkillers he had to take were contributing to make him an even tighter sleeper at the moment. But when Madelyn was standing at his bed he always woke up, smiled at her and told her to go back to sleep. And with a nod Madelyn always obeyed. But getting up at least three times a night couldn't be healthy for a little girl.

Even Madelyn's teacher, Mrs. Stenson, had realized and had called Mr. Dearing to ask why his daughter had been so tired during class the last days. Mr. Dearing had explained what had happened and Mrs. Stenson had again suggested Madelyn should see a child's therapist. This seemed to be the teacher's solution to everything, Mr. Dearing had mentioned to April. But this was out of the question for Madelyn. So something else needed to be done.

And this was the point April had been wracking her brain about for the entire evening now, but she still had no idea what could be done.

Suddenly April heard a thud, an all too familiar thud. She didn't even look who it was. She knew who it was, she just knew.

"Hi, Leo," she said.

"Hi, April," the mutant turtle gave back. He had stopped wondering how April always knew when he or one of his brothers were around and who exactly it was. This ability was part of her as was her red hair or her love for the color yellow. "How are you doing?"

April sighed. "I'm thinking about Madelyn. I am worried, Leo," the teenage girl said as she turned to him. "She is so serious and anxious and I have no idea what I can do to make her feel better."

Leo lowered his eyes for a moment. "Still no improvement?" he sighed. "Did she at least…"

"No, Leo, she didn't write you a letter," April interrupted him, and Leo twisted his mouth at the fact that April had known what he had been about to say. Again. "She is too busy watching over her father. That's what she told me today. She even wants to become a ninja now to be able to protect him. Can you believe this?"

Leo nodded. "I can." It seemed to be the same reason he tried to become a better leader so that he could protect his brothers better when they were on a mission.

April thought about asking Leo what he meant by that but she somehow knew what this was about. She knew Leo's efforts to become a better leader. And she understood why he did that. And they were talking about Madelyn right now, so this matter had to wait.

"Is there something we can do?"

Leo frowned. "I don't know. I think all we can do is confirming her that we understand her, that we take her seriously." He shrugged. "I mean I know I understand her. And you know how she feels as well, don't you?"

April nodded. "All too well," she mumbled. "All too well."

When she said that, Leo placed a hand on her shoulder. He hadn't intended to open old wounds, but unfortunately, it was a fact. And when April looked up to him, he just smiled at her, and April returned his smile. It was a moment of silent understanding, a moment only good friends could share. And this thought alone made them feel better, at least a little bit.

* * *

Madelyn was lying in her bed, looking at the ceiling. She was listening to her father's silent snoring in the living room. This meant he was still there, but she was afraid he might go away to live with the angels later tonight. She pressed Ruffles McBearington closer to her chest and sighed. And then she heard it, a knock at the window. With a frown Madelyn got up, placing her teddy bear on her bed, but the frown quickly turned into a smile and she opened the window. Moments later Leo climbed inside.

"Mr. Turtle!" she cried out cheerfully and flung her arms around the mutant.

"Hello, Madelyn," Leo said with a smile.

"What are you doing here?" the little girl asked.

"You didn't send me a new letter lately, so I thought I needed to check on you," Leo explained.

Madelyn lowered her eyes for a moment. "I have been busy. I need to watch over Daddy."

"I understand," Leo said and patted Madelyn's head. The little girl smiled at him. "But why are you still awake; Madelyn? It is late."

"I told you," Madelyn explained. "I need to watch over Daddy." She was silent for a moment in which Mr. Dearing's snoring could be heard. "Or listen over him," she added quickly.

"I see," Leo gave back. "How about we listen over your dad together?"

Madelyn nodded eagerly, and when Leo sat down on the floor, to his surprise Madelyn climbed his lap and leaned her head against his plastron. When Leo looked down on her he realized the girl had closed her eyes.

"You listening over Daddy tonight, Mr. Turtle?" Madelyn asked after a while, her voice suddenly sounding very tired.

"Of course," Leo answered.

"That's good," Madelyn mumbled half-asleep.

Leo flung his arms around her. When she felt his arms around her Madelyn pressed herself even closer to him, shifting into an even more comfortable position. One of her hands came to rest on Leo's shoulder.

"Can we stay like this for a while, Mr. Turtle?" Madelyn asked further.

"Sure," Leo said.

"Thank you, Mr. Turtle," Madelyn mumbled, followed by a little yawn.

"You're welcome." Leo looked down at the little girl again. "As long as you don't want me to I am not letting go." And with that he pressed a gentle kiss on Madelyn's head. He then leaned back, listening to her calm breaths. Who cared if he was getting any sleep tonight? Madelyn needed him, and he would never let her down.


	11. Finding A Friend

_Thanks again to you all for your support. You have no idea how much this means to me. :)_

_You may have noticed, "My Mr. Turtle" has a cover image now. It was drawn by a very good friend of mine. Isn't it just awesome? ^^ You can find a better version of it on my tumblr. My nickname there is andrea-odown. Also, if you have any questions you can ask me on tumblr, even anonymously if you want to - this may be interesting for the guest reviewers that can't contact me here via PM. :)  
_

___Some of you asked/suggested if/that Mr. Dearing finds Leo in Madelyn's room, but as you are going to find out in this chapter, he doesn't. Leo snuck out of Madelyn's room at the first sign that Mr. Dearing was getting up. He is a ninja, remember? ;) I don't tell that exactly in the story because I don't think it's important for the plot._

_There are two new unicorn-names showing up in this chapter. They were inspired by the list of names Just Call Me J sent to me. I changed them, but I bet you know which names I got my inspiration from, J! ;)_

* * *

**Chapter 11: Finding New Friends**

April was sprinting down the corridors of Madelyn's school, only slowing down to a swift pace when she heard approaching footsteps. But as soon as whoever was crossing her path was out of sight she started sprinting again. This was just a matter of keeping up appearances of the "No running in school's corridors"-rule.

The moment she turned around the last corner she finally slowed down to a swift pace completely. And no second too soon, she realized. Mrs. Stenson was already waiting for her in front of the door to the room where after school-care was taking place. And where Madelyn was waiting for her.

April took a deep breath when she set eyes on Mrs. Stenson.

_Remember_, she said to herself, _if she's mentioning a child's therapist again, fight the urge to punch her, just nod and get to Madelyn as soon as possible._

And with that she straightened up and walked over to Madelyn's teacher.

* * *

Madelyn was sitting at one of the tables in the back of the classroom, an open storybook in front of her, lazily leafing through it. But from her posture and the look on her face – and maybe thanks to some kunoichi-training – April could tell the little girl wasn't really paying attention to what was shown in the book. All she was doing was _pretending_ to be busy – and avoiding eye-contact.

April walked over to her and knelt down next to her chair.

"Hey there, Madelyn," she said with a smile.

"Hello, April," Madelyn gave back without looking up from her book. But that she had realized it was April next to her showed the teenage girl that Madelyn really was paying more attention to what was going on around her than to her storybook.

"So, Mrs. Stenson told me you caused some trouble today," April continued.

"Mm-hmm," Madelyn gave back.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Uh-uh."

April gave a silent sigh. This wasn't going to work. But who could blame Madelyn? All the other kids around were secretly looking at them and talking in whispers. So maybe the best thing was to get Madelyn out of here.

And with that thought April got up.

"Get your things, Madelyn," she said mandatorily. "I'm bringing you home."

Without looking up the little girl closed the storybook with a snap and got up to grab her schoolbag.

* * *

Out on the street Madelyn was still avoiding eye-contact. She though had allowed April to hold her by the hand, but that was it. She still wasn't talking, her eyes were lowered to the ground and her lips were a thin line because she was pressing them together as if she wanted to hold back any words ever to escape from her mouth.

April frowned at the sight of the little girl.

"You still don't want to talk about it?" she asked cautiously.

Madelyn just shook her head.

"So how about this? I tell you what I have been told by Mrs. Stenson and you just nod or shake your head to my questions," April suggested. "Technically, that's not talking, so it should be okay. Okay?"

Madelyn nodded.

"Good." April smiled down at her. "So, Mrs. Stenson has told me that you have bitten one of the boys. Is that true?"

Madelyn nodded.

"Did he say mean things?"

Madelyn nodded again.

"About you?"

The little girl shook her head.

"About your father?"

Madelyn shook her head again.

"About me?"

Another shake of the head.

"About one of your friends?"

Madelyn nodded.

"Who is it?"

Except for an answer Madelyn just glanced at April. "Oh, yeah, right," the teenage girl mumbled when she realized that hadn't been a question that could be answered with a nod or shake of the head.

"Kathy?" April asked, remembering the name of one of Madelyn's friends.

The little girl shook her head.

"Uuuuuhhhmmmmm." _Great, April, now you're stuck_, she scolded herself for not remembering any other names of Madelyn's friends.

"Oh, geez, Madelyn, I'm so sorry," she finally said. "I can't remember all the names of your friends. Could you please help me here? I am so bad at guessing games. Sorry."

Madelyn shot her another glance before she mumbled, "Mr. Turtle."

"Mr. Turtle?" April asked in a surprised voice that drowned out the relieved ring that Madelyn finally was talking to her.

"Yes," Madelyn confirmed. "I was drawing a picture of the Dauntless for Mr. Turtle. And Billy came and glanced over my shoulder and said that 'Space Heroes' was such a stupid show. And I said that it is Mr. Turtle's favorite TV show, and Billy said that Mr. Turtle was just as stupid then, and then I bit him in the arm."

"I see." April looked at the little girl. "I can understand why you did that, but you know that it was wrong, don't you?"

Madelyn just nodded.

"Good. Mrs. Stenson said there was another boy involved."

"Yes, Marcus," Madelyn confirmed. "Before Billy made fun of the show, Marcus said how nice my picture looked. But when I ran over to Billy to bite him, I think I knocked Marcus out of the way."

"Did you apologize?"

Madelyn shook her head.

"Well, you have to," April said. "Sure, Billy seems to be a jerk, but biting him was wrong, so you have to apologize. And Marcus didn't do anything wrong. If you promise me that the next time Billy's a jerk, you just go to ignore him and apologize to Billy and Marcus tomorrow, we don't need to tell your dad about this, okay?"

Madelyn nodded. "I promise."

"Good." April gave Madelyn's hand a squeeze. "Sooooo," she then said with a smile. "Is Marcus a friend of yours?"

"No," Madelyn gave back. "He is…weird. He's always for himself, never talks to anyone. He's just doing his homework and reading. I didn't even know he likes 'Space Heroes'."

"But now you know," April replied. "Maybe he likes Space Heroes just as much as you do. Why don't you talk about the show with him?"

"Because he's weird."

"And you have talked so much to him that you know that for sure?"

Madelyn shook her head. "I have never talked to him before."

"So how do you know then?"

"The other kids say…"

"One of the other kids says that 'Space Heroes' is a stupid show. Is he right?" April asked.

Madelyn shook her head.

"So maybe they are wrong about Marcus as well," April went on.

"Yes," Madelyn gave back. "Maybe."

* * *

When Leo arrived at the fire escape in front of April's open window, the teenage girl waved at him with one of Madelyn's pink letters.

"I have no idea what you did the other day," April said with a smile, "but it worked. Madelyn is a little bit less clingy, and she finally found the time to write you."

"I really didn't do anything," Leo replied, taking the letter from her. "Just letting her know that I am there when she needs me."

"Well, it worked," April assured. "She even had a little fight back at school today."

"She had what?!" Leo blinked a few times.

"Someone called her Mr. Turtle stupid, and Madelyn bit him," April told him.

"I know I shouldn't be, but I am somehow proud of her," Leo said with a smirk.

"I know what you mean," the teenage girl gave back. "I was too, because it means that she has her energy back. But still, she needs to learn that violence is not the answer."

"No worries, I will tell her that." Leo shrugged. "I guess I am kind of used to it after having to deal with Raph's anger issues for fifteen years now."

April raised a brow. "I thought it has gotten better after he made friends with Casey."

"It has. And he kept pretty calm after he lost Spike. Thought that would at least make him lose his temper more easily, but I was mistaken. I guess what Slash had said about anger had made him thinking, but we are talking about Raph here."

April thought about that for a moment. "You have a point," she finally said.

Leo stuffed the letter under his belt. "I better get going," he said. "After staying away from the lair until morning the other day nearly got me grounded. And now sensei and my brothers watch me even more closely. It took me fifteen minutes and all my powers of persuasion to get permission to visit you."

"Well, then better get going, fearless leader," April said to him with a wink.

Leo chuckled. "Bye, April!" And with that he waved at her and left.

* * *

_Dear Mr. Turtle,_

_Thank you so much for listening over Daddy the other night. I slept well and now I feel so much better. And I think Daddy is better too.  
I talked to April about you being a ninja, and she said she is a ninja too. She used another word, but I forgot what it was. It's complicated. I asked her if I can be a ninja too, and she said I should ask you about that. So can I? I really want to be a ninja and have a pink superhero-suit with a glittering belt. Can you help me with that? As a superhero I can watch over Daddy easilier.  
I had a little fight at school today. Billy said that 'Space Heroes' is a stupid show and when I said that it is your favorite show, he said that you are just as stupid. And the next thing I know is that I bit him in the arm. I promised April to apologize tomorrow and next time he says mean things just ignore him, but I don't know how to do that. Should I just cover my ears or how else do I ignore him? Do you know how to do that?  
I accidently knocked another boy over when I ran over to Billy, and I am going to apologize to him tomorrow for that. He seems to like 'Space Heroes', so April asked if he and I were friends. We are not. He is weird, always reading and never talking to anyone. April said I should try to talk to him because he and I both like 'Space Heroes'. My other friends in school know the show, but they aren't big fans like me. I can only talk about 'Space Heroes' with you.  
I drew you a new picture. It's the Dauntless, and this time the picture turned out the way I wanted it.  
Did you watch more 'Unicornia'-episodes? I watched the one where Sweetie Smile babysits Chocolate Twirl and Little Cheese Cake again yesterday. It reminded me that April is my babysitter now, but I am not so difficult and I don't cause so much trouble as the baby unicorns do.  
I really like April. Do you think I can draw a picture for her? Will she like that? And what kind of picture?  
I hope to see you again soon, Mr. Turtle._

_Yours,  
Madelyn_

_A pink ninja?_ Leo chuckled at the thought. Then he got up and added Madelyn's latest masterpiece to his Space Heroes-wall. He admired it for a moment, but then started thinking about what to reply to Madelyn. This was a bit more difficult than usual, now that she had asked for some advice.

* * *

_Dear Madelyn,_

_I am glad you are feeling better and that your father is better too.  
The word you were looking for is kunoichi. It's a female ninja. So you want to become a ninja too? I maybe can help you with that. Let's talk about this next time we meet, okay?  
If Billy said 'Space Heroes' is stupid I'd say he is stupid. It's a great show!  
So you lost your temper today? This can happen to all of us. Mr. Red has problems with that all the time. Our father gave him a good advice how to deal with insults. Just let these words wash over you like a river over stone. Take a deep breath next time you are getting angry, and don't pay attention on what Billy says. If you have problems with that concentrate on something else, so you can blind out his words more easily. Tell me if this works for you, okay? If not, we have to find something else. And if you get so angry next time that you want to bite him again, just leave the room. Violence never is the answer.  
And there is something else that helped Mr. Red a lot to deal with his bad temper. He found a new friend, one with whom he has a lot in common. He didn't see it first, but when they spent some time together he realized he and his new friend were a lot alike.  
Maybe you should try this too. You said this one boy likes 'Space Heroes' too. And I have to agree with April on this one. Just talk to him. That he prefers to be on his own doesn't make him weird. It just makes him a little different. And if you talk to him and find out you don't like him, that's okay too. And if you like him that's even better because then you have someone beside me to talk about this great show.  
Your Dauntless-picture is so beautiful! I really like it!  
I watched the babysitting-episode last week. It was so funny! Poor Sweetie Smile!  
I can imagine that you aren't as difficult as the baby unicorns. On the contrary, I bet April has a lot of fun when she looks after you.  
I am sure she would love it if you draw her a picture. How about you and her in your superhero-suits? Is that a good idea?  
I can't wait to see you again! _

_Yours,  
Mr. Turtle_

With a frown Madelyn tucked the letter away. She was sitting in the reading corner in the after school-care-room again, and she now carefully glanced over to Marcus who was sitting at a table and reading a comic.

As promised she had apologized to him – and to Billy for that matter, although she had barely opened her mouth when she had said sorry to this meanie – and Marcus had just given her a little smile and said that it was okay. That had been yesterday, and she and he hadn't talked ever since. Her frown grew a little deeper as she watched him closely. And then she got up, her movement all resolute, and marched over to him.

When Marcus lifted his head to look at her as she came to a halt next to him, Madelyn stiffened a bit. But then she remembered what Mr. Turtle and April had said, and yes, she was going to try this. If finding a new friend has helped Mr. Red, maybe it would help her as well.

"Whosyourfavoritespaceheroscharacter?" she asked quickly.

Marcus raised a brow, but then he beamed at her. "Captain Ryan!"


	12. Leo's Secret

_Thanks again for your support! I was hoping to reach 1.000 visitors for this story at the end of the month. And now it's mid-February, and "My Mr. Turtle" already had over 1.000 visitors! I love you, guys! ^^_

_I got a guest review that needs to be answered and since I can't answer it via PM I have to answer it here. So here you go, SJC-Caron!_

_As it is said in the story several times, Madelyn is no pre-kindergartener, she is seven years old, and thus though her reading and writing skills are a bit advanced for her age, they are still not unusual. I think this kindergarten-thought might come from the fact that I show her drawing during after school-care a lot, but like I said that's during AFTER-school care. She is allowed to draw there if she wants to. And drawing is one of her hobbies._

_I hope that's clear now, SJC-Caron. ;)_

* * *

**Chapter 12: Leo's Secret**

Humming a random melody which just accidentally had some resemblance with the Unicornia-show's theme song, Leo walked down the corridor, headed for his room. He didn't seem to notice that his brothers had popped out their heads from the kitchen and had watched him closely. They shared a glance and then got back into the kitchen, gathering around the table.

Mikey leaned over the table, looking at his brothers conspiratorially. "Guys," he whispered. "I think Leo has a girlfriend."

"Suuuuuure," Raph drawled and rolled his eyes. "We've through that, Mikey. Leo has no girlfriend. Now cut it out."

His younger brother just twisted his mouth.

"But something is definitely wrong with him," Raph announced then, banging his fist on the table. "I have no problem with him being all happy and such – okay, no big problem, to be honest –, but this can't be normal. He was humming the theme song of a cartoon show for little girls!"

"How do you know that?" Mikey asked. A broad grin appeared on his face. "Do you watch little girls' cartoons?" he added teasingly.

Raph's face fell for a second. "No!" he retorted angrily.

"Then how do you know it was the theme song of a little girls' cartoon?" Mikey went on, the grin of his face growing even broader.

"I might have unintentionally watched a bit of it while I was zapping through the channels! And now shut up or I make you shut up!" He banged his fist on the table again to emphasize his thought and shot Mikey such an angry glance, the youngest turtle backed away a little with a gulp.

"The point is," Raph continued in a less angry voice, "Leo's not acting normal. He is spending too much time in his room, doing whatever on his laptop, and he is going out all by himself quite often recently. Heck, he even stayed away nearly all night a few days ago. This is so not Leo!"

"I am sticking to my girlfriend-idea," Mikey said. "He is all up on cloud nine, grinning and such. Definitely found a girlfriend."

"Or maybe he is a robot," Donnie interposed. He knew it wasn't true. He even knew the girlfriend-idea wasn't true. Actually, he was the only one who knew what really was going on here, but he had promised April to not tell anyone, so all he could do right now was playing along.

"You think he's some sort of a Footbot?" Mikey gave back with a gasp. "That's terrible! How could they turn him into a robot? Poor Leo! He would never be able to taste pizza again!"

Donnie slapped his hand against his forehead.

"No," he said as he turned back to Mikey. "What I meant is that he might have been _replaced_ by a robot. You know, the Foot captured Leo and then sent a robot that looks exactly like him to us."

"The Foot captured Leo?! We gotta save him!"

"Mikey, that was just an assumption!"

"We gotta save him nonetheless!"

Donnie slapped his hand against his forehead again. "MIKEY!"

"Yes? Ouch!"

Mikey rubbed the back of his head where Raph had slapped him.

"We don't know if Leo is a robot yet. I'm just saying he _could_ be," Donnie continued. "Although I don't think they would have been able to capture him and send a robot here when he went topside alone. They don't know where our lair is since we destroyed all of the Footbots that made their way here when they were following Casey the other day. But they could have replaced him during one of our training runs."

"So how do we find out if it's the real Leo or not? Prick his arm with a needle to see if he's bleeding?" Raph asked, then raised a brow. "Can I do that?" he added with a smirk.

"Okay," Mikey said to him. "We ambush him on the way to the dojo, and Donnie and I hold him down, and you prick his arm." Mikey nodded determinedly. "This should work. Okay, guys, come on! Let's make this robot talk!"

Donnie choked a sigh. Maybe it had been a bad idea to bring that robot-topic up. He had to think of something else to keep Leo's secret.

"You know what, Mikey," he finally said. "I think we should start all over again. This is getting out of hand."

"Okay!" Mikey leaned in closer to his two brothers. "Guys," he said in a whisper. "I think Leo has a girlfriend."

Donnie tried really hard, but he lost the fight, and thus slapped his hand against his forehead once more. And since it was the third time within a few minutes, it hurt a bit, and Donnie hissed silently.

* * *

_Dear Mr. Turtle,_

_Thank you so much for your advice! Billy kept calm recently. He just nodded when I apologized. I think he is a little afraid that I can bite him again now. Suits him well for calling you stupid. But next time he says mean things I try to ignore him and take a deep breath, and if I get angry again, leave the room. We will see if it helps.  
I acted on your advice regarding Marcus too. I was a bit nervous, but I did well. I asked him who his favorite 'Space Heroes'-character is, and he said it is Captain Ryan. And then we talked about the show and Captain Ryan until April came to pick me up.  
I am happy you like the Dauntless-picture. I will draw a new picture for you after I finished the one for April. I started drawing it today. I so hope she likes it! But it's not finished yet. As you suggested, I draw her and me as superheroes. It's a bit difficult because I can't decide what our suits should look like, but I will come up with something.  
Yes, I want to be a kunoichi one day. I can watch over Daddy better when I am one, don't you think? And it would be great if you could help me with that.  
Yes, Sweetie Smile is going through a lot during this episode. But it is so funny! Most of the episodes with Sweetie Smile in it are superfunny. Just like the one where she entered the Make Everyone Laugh!-contest. It's another one of my favorite episodes.  
April told me today that she asked Daddy if I could stay at her place for the weekend. Her aunt is out of town on Saturday and Sunday, and Daddy agreed. I first had my doubts if it would be okay to leave Daddy alone for two days, but Daddy promised he will call three times a day, so I agreed. And this means we could meet on the weekend! We can have a tea party together with April! And we can play 'Go Fish'. That's my favorite card game. What do you think? I so hope it will work for you.  
Oh, and if you can make it, can you bring Mrs. Sparkling Hair with you? I would love to see her again. _

_Yours,  
Madelyn_

Leo placed the letter in the drawer of his bedside table. He frowned as he realized it was getting really stuffed in there. _Poor Mrs. Sparkling Hair!_

He then froze for a second. _Have I really just thought that?_ He shrugged. _Guess so._

Maybe he should find another hiding place for the doll. Or sleeping berth, like he would tell Madelyn. But first he needed to reply to her letter.

* * *

When Leo left the lair later, telling his sensei and his brothers that he was doing a training run and would be back in an hour, he had no idea he was being followed.

Mikey gave a little sigh as he climbed the fire escape of a building, secretly following his oldest brother. Why had it always be him who had to do this kind of stuff? Every time they put it on a vote who should do something, he was voted over. How was that even possible? Shouldn't there be a fifty-fifty chance someone else was voted? But no, Raph and Donnie had voted for him while he had voted for Raph. So he ended up on the following Leo-duty.

Okay, this was somehow logical to him, but how on earth had Donnie been able to talk him into taking over his cleaning-duty for a week? He remembered Donnie mentioning something about giving him a slice of pizza if he did something, and Mikey had instantly agreed. Turned out this _something_ must have been Donnie's cleaning duty.

With another sigh Mikey pulled out a spy-glass to keep sight of Leo as he was following him over the rooftops at some distance.

When Leo stopped at April's apartment building, Mikey stopped on the rooftop of another building, hiding in the shadows, but still watching Leo closely with the spy-glass.

So he watched how the blue-clad turtle swung down on the fire escape and met their human friend.

Now this was odd. Why would Leo meet April without telling them? He thought of his idea that Leo may have found a girlfriend again. Could April be that girlfriend? Mikey thought about it. But as far as he could tell they were only talking. Maybe he should be sure about that before he told Raph and Donnie, especially Donnie. He didn't want his genius-brother to end up heartbroken.

When Leo left April to get back to the lair half an hour later, Mikey was already gone.

* * *

When Madelyn entered the after school-care-room the next day, Marcus was running up to her.

"Hey, Madelyn!" he said cheerfully. "Have you watched the episode I told you about yesterday?"

"I have! It was awesome!" Madelyn replied just as cheerfully.

"Didn't you just love the scene with Crankshaw and Dr. Mindstrong?" the boy asked further as he and Madelyn walked over to the reading corner.

"I did!" Madelyn gave back as she put her schoolbag down, opened it, and took Mr. Turtle's letter out.

"I hate to put you off, Marcus," she then said as she sat down. "But I need to read Mr. Turtle's letter, before we can talk."

"No problem." Marcus said with a smile. "I'll read my comic then. Oh, and greetings to Mr. Turtle in your next letter, okay?"

"Sure!" Madelyn answered as she yanked the letter open. "But I am going to see him on the weekend hopefully."

"Okay, then tell him in person," Marcus said, still smiling as he sat down on one of the cushions opposite Madelyn and took his comic book in hand.

"I will!" the little girl assured before she started reading.

_Dear Madelyn,_

_I'm really proud of you that you apologized to Billy and Marcus. Apologizing to Billy especially must have been hard, but it was the right thing to do. I hope Billy is going to leave you alone.  
See? Now you found someone else you can talk about 'Space Heroes' with. I'm glad.  
I am sure you are going to draw something awesome and that you will come up with some great looking superhero-suits. And April is going to love it! Pretty sure about that!  
Let's talk about you becoming a kunoichi on the weekend, okay?  
I haven't watched the episode about the Make Everyone Laugh!-contest yet, but I am going to watch it before the weekend, so we can talk about it.  
And of course we can have a tea party with April and play 'Go Fish'. It's one of my favorite card games as well, but it has been a while since I played it. So I can't wait! But I have to warn you. I am really good at it, and I won't let you win just because you are a little girl, okay?  
I already talked to my father and it is okay that I come over on Saturday and Sunday evening. I just can't stay too long. He is still a bit angry because I stayed away nearly the whole night when I was listening over your father the other night.  
Of course I can bring Mrs. Sparkling Hair! I think she misses you, but she would never admit it.  
See you on the weekend, Madelyn!_

_Yours,  
Mr. Turtle_

* * *

At Saturday evening April was kneeling at the coffee table with her laptop in front of her on the table top, doing her homework.

Leo and Madelyn were in the back of the living room, sitting on the floor on some cushions and playing Go Fish. Mrs. Sparkling Hair was sitting next to Leo, Ruffles McBearington next to Madelyn.

They already had had a little tea party with April, but then the teenage girl had told them that she had a bunch of homework to do and left them alone. She still listened to their chatter now and then, though.

"Madelyn, please give me all your 5s," Leo said to the little girl as April looked over to them with a smile.

"I don't have any!" Madelyn gave back.

"You sure?" Leo asked.

"Yes!" Madelyn giggled.

"You're lying!" Leo said.

"No, I am not!" Madelyn giggled again.

Leo placed his set of cards on the floor and leaned over to tickle Madelyn until she was laughing so hard, she twisted her hand in which she was holding her cards in, so Leo could glance at them.

He smirked when he spotted two 5s.

"And what is that?" he said while he continued tickling her.

"I don't know!" Madelyn laughed.

"Cheater!" Leo chuckled.

That moment April's phone rang, the teenage girl looked at the display to check who it was, and then picked up with a smile.

"Hello, Mr. Dearing!" she greeted Madelyn's father as she got up and walked over to the window, opened it and leaned on the window bench. She took a deep breath of cool night air.

"Oh, she is doing fine!" April assured. "You hear her laughing, don't you?"

"The male voice?" she said then after a little while, obviously answering a question of Mr. Dearing. "That's…uhm…my boyfriend," she explained. "He and Madelyn are playing Go Fish, and they are having a good time."

April had no idea that someone was listening to her words. Up on the rooftop Mikey had been on Leo-guard since Leo had entered the apartment.

With a fierce nod he stepped backwards.

_I knew it! Leo has a girlfriend!_, the youngest turtle thought. He still was a bit surprised that April was this girlfriend. But now April had said it herself. She had called Leo her boyfriend. He couldn't wait to tell Raph that he had been right. But how on earth was he going to tell Donnie?


	13. Playing Along

_The scene at the beginning of this chapter refers to the episode "The Kraang Conspiracy". I had hoped the new episode would show us how April deals with the news regarding her origin, but there was nothing in "Fungus Humungous", so I wrote a little scene about it myself. I hope you like it. ^^_

* * *

**Chapter 13: Playing Along**

April was walking down the street with a happily babbling Madelyn. As always she was holding the little girl by the hand, but something was different about the teenage girl today. She didn't smile and stared in the distance now and then, her thoughts drifting off to a topic she had been able to avoid the past week. Having to have taking care of Madelyn, bringing her to school, picking her up, babysitting her, meeting her mutant friends, tutoring Casey, and a bunch of homework plus a lot of voluntary school projects she had happened to have interest in just now, had been keeping her busy, but she knew that it had only been a matter of time until she couldn't avoid the obvious any longer.

She had long lost track of what Madelyn was talking about. She had tried really hard to keep listening, but had failed miserably. And now all that had remained was this one question: What was she? She knew now she wasn't fully human, she was part human, part alien, part mutant, she was some kind of a strange mix of strange creatures and had just happened to end up human-looking.

_Yeah, lucky me_, she thought with a silent grunt.

These news about her origin had turned her world upside down. Again. What exactly was she going to do now? Keep pretending she was fully human even if she wasn't? Keep to make her life look normal – or as normal as possible?

April lowered her head for a moment. She had no idea what she should do. Heck, she even had no idea who she was any longer.

"April?" Madelyn asked, and when the redhead didn't react, she repeated more forcefully, "April!"

This made her friend snap out of her trance.

"What is it, Madelyn?" she asked quickly.

"You weren't listening!" Madelyn said with a pout.

"I'm sorry, Madelyn," April gave back, squeezing the little girl's hand a little. "What were you talking about?"

"I was talking about our awesome weekend, how Mr. Turtle saw through my cheating when we were playing Go Fish, and how great the tea party was and…" Madelyn looked at April again who was staring in the distance again. "…and you aren't listening again!" the little girl added reproachfully.

April flinched, snapping out of her thoughts again, and looked at Madelyn. "I…I am so sorry, Madelyn!"

"What's wrong, April?" the little girl asked. "Usually, you are listening to whatever I say, but not today. What happened?"

"Nothing."

"Liar!"

"Okay, okay," April gave in. "_Something_ happened. But I can't talk about it right now, okay?"

"Okay."

"I will tell you eventually, promise!"

"Okay."

Madelyn was still watching her with a frown.

They walked in silence for a moment, April wracking her brain of what to do now. She hadn't missed the disappointed ring in Madelyn's voice, and she really wanted to talk to her. But she couldn't think about a topic, since the topic about her origin was so overly on the spot in her head right now. But maybe she could talk about it without giving away too much and scaring Madelyn. The teenage girl gave a light nod. Maybe this would work.

"Madelyn, can I…can I ask you a question?" she finally asked.

The girl gave a fierce nod.

"Do you think Mr. Turtle is weird?" April asked. "I mean, what he looks like, what he is. Is that…is that weird?"

"Not at all." Madelyn shook her head. "That's Mr. Turtle. If he didn't look like he does he wouldn't be Mr. Turtle."

"And you like him even if he is a giant talking turtle?"

"I like him because he's Mr. Turtle. Like I like you because you're April." Madelyn smiled at her babysitter.

"You know what?" April said, returning the smile. "For such a little girl you are pretty wise."

Madelyn beamed. "I got that from a 'Unicornia'-episode," she explained. "Where Sweetie Smile wanted to be friends with a sea pony, and all her friends were against it because sea ponies are different from unicorns. And Sweetie Smile said, 'I don't care. I like her because she is her. I don't care what she is.' That was so cute!"

April chuckled silently. Had she really just been taught a lesson from a little girl referring to a TV show? But on the other hand, this didn't make it any less true.

She gave Madelyn's hand another squeeze as the girl kept talking about unicorns, sea ponies, and her favorite episodes, and this time April really was listening.

* * *

Mikey was standing inside his room, his cheek pressed against the door, and listening closely. He was waiting for a special sound, the tromping of big, most of the time angry feet that echoed through the corridor when the turtle to whom these feet belonged didn't care about his ninja skills and/or if anyone could hear him or not.

The youngest turtle grinned when he finally could hear what he had been waiting for and opened the door. He popped his head out and looked over to Raph who obviously was on his way to his own room.

"Raph!" he whispered, and when his older brother looked at him with a frown, Mikey waved him over and inside his room. Once Raph was inside, Mikey quickly shut the door again. Then he walked over and came to a hold in front of Raph, his arms crossed over his chest, and grinning broadly at his older brother.

Raph just raised a brow.

"Is there something you want to tell me, Mikey, or do you just want to show me that you could stand around looking like an idiot?" the red-clad turtle asked. "Because if the latter is the case, I already knew that."

Mikey drooped his arms immediately, and his grin turned into a twisted mouth.

"Haha, very funny," he said flatly, but then the grin appeared back on his face and he straightened up.

"But actually, there is something I wanted to tell you," he said, his grin growing even broader now, so that it was a miracle to Raph how this grin could still fit into Mikey's face.

And the grin grew a few inches broader when Mikey said, "I. Was. Right."

"Come again?" Raph asked surprised.

"Sure," Mikey gave back. "I. Was. Right."

"I heard that!" Raph retorted, his voice suddenly a bit angry. "Right about what?!"

"About Leo," Mikey clarified. "He has a girlfriend."

His brother's eyes widened in surprise. "Seriously?"

"Seriously." Mikey nodded.

"How is that even possible? Please tell me, it's not Karai!"

"It's not Karai."

"Now that's a relief!"

"It's April."

Raph's eyes widened even more now at Mikey's words, and he blinked a few times. But then his face turned serious again as he spoke to his brother.

"Mikey, I've always thought you were stupid," he said. "But I was wrong."

Mikey laughed self-confidently. "About time you figured that out."

Raph took a deep breath before he yelled at his brother, "You are completely insane!"

Mikey twisted his mouth again, looking at his brother, his eyes full of hurt.

"I am not!" he finally gave back. "April said it herself!"

"She did?" Raph asked.

"She did!" Mikey assured him. "I heard it with my own ears."

Raph lowered his eyes. "That's a mess."

"I know," Mikey agreed. "How do we tell Donnie?"

Raph looked at him for a second, then lowered his eyes again. "I wish I knew."

"You should know!" Mikey gave back. "You are the one who told him he has no shot with April! You know how to say these kinda things!"

"I was just saying what was on my mind. And it was wrong! It made Donnie go on a mission all by himself. He could have gotten killed! And I made up for it! I have no idea how to tell him that!"

"But we have to tell him!"

"I know!"

* * *

Later that evening there was a silent knock at the door of Donnie's lab.

Donnie was working on his latest invention, sitting at his worktable and screwing some pieces together.

"Come in!"

There was something wrong about the approaching footsteps. Donnie knew it was his brothers, two of them, to be precise, but something in the way how they were setting their feet on the ground was so not like them. He lifted his head and looked over to them, only to set eyes on Raph and Mikey who looked very uncomfortable. They were avoiding eye-contact as they walked over to their genius brother.

"Uhm…Donnie…there…uhm…is something…we need to…uhm…tell you," Mikey said as he nudged Raph.

"Exactly!" Raph confirmed. "And Mikey is going to tell you."

"Who? Me?" Mikey asked confused.

"Is there another Mikey present?" Raph asked.

"Why? Do you see another Mikey here?" Mikey asked back.

There was a loud smack to be heard as Raph slapped his brother on the back of his head.

Mikey rubbed the aching spot and looked angrily at his older brother.

"Now tell him!" Raph commanded between gritted teeth.

"No, you tell him!" Mikey gave back between gritted teeth as well.

"Tell him or I swear I'm gonna slap the green off you!"

Mikey looked at Raph as if to make sure if his brother was serious, but Raph's burning-with-anger eyes admitted no doubt. Raph _really_ was going to hit him if he didn't tell Donnie now.

"Okay," he mumbled as he turned to Donnie. "See, Donnie, I found out why Leo is acting so weird. And I was right." He beamed at his brother for a moment as if he wanted to say, _Can we please savor this moment when I was right? _"Leo has a girlfriend," he added then.

But after that the grin disappeared from Mikey's face and he lowered his eyes when he went further with his explanation. "And this girlfriend is April," he mumbled.

Donnie blinked as he mentally repeated what Mikey had just said. April, Leo's girlfriend? He knew for sure that wasn't true. He had jumped to his conclusion himself a while back. But his brothers seemed to think that really was true. And he had promised April not to give away Leo's secret. So what should he do now?

_Play along_, he said to himself. That was pretty much all he could do.

"Oh." He lowered his eyes as well, giving his voice an extra-sad ring. "Is that so?"

"No, Donnie, don't cry!" Mikey burst out and hugged his brother tightly.

"I'm not gonna cry!" Donnie said angrily until he realized that had sounded way too angrily for a depressed and heartbroken person. "I mean, I want to be alone right now," he added in the saddest voice he could come up with. "Okay?"

"Okay," Mikey replied as he let go of Donnie. "But if there's something we can do to make you feel better, just let us know, okay?"

"Well, it would help if you two could take over my kitchen-cleaning-duty for today," Donnie gave back. "It would give me more time to get a hold on myself."

"Will do!" Mikey pointed at his brother with his finger and winked at him with an encouraging smile.

Donnie replied with what he thought was a weak smile, and watched how Mikey and Raph left the room. And when he heard retreating footsteps, he turned back to his invention and resumed his work.

"And the award goes to…" he whispered with a smirk.

* * *

Leo didn't know anything about this. He was sitting on his bed, Madelyn's latest letter on his lap, and reading.

_Dear Mr. Turtle,_

_The weekend was awesome! I hope we can do this again soon. I was a bit worried about Daddy, but he kept his promise and called three times a day, and when April brought me home on Sunday evening he was awaiting us at the door. I think his broken leg is finally getting better. He has to go to the hospital tomorrow, and the doctors will tell him if he can do without a plaster now or not. I so hope they will remove his plaster and we can finally go for walks again! I love going for walks with April, but I miss my walks with Daddy.  
I finally decided what April's and my superhero-outfits should look like. I will start drawing it after I finished this letter.  
You really are a great Go Fish-player. Daddy never saw through my cheating. I always win when he and me play Go Fish. But I beated you without cheating two times. This is even better than winning with cheating!  
We were so busy playing Go Fish and having tea parties and talking about 'Unicornia', we completely forgot to talk about me becoming a superhero. Can we talk about it next time we meet?  
Billy tried to tease me again today, but I wasn't listening, and so he went away after a while. It worked to think of something else! That was the moment I decided what April's and my superhero-outfits should look like.  
April was a bit upset when she brought me to school today. Do you know what is going on? Can I help her?  
Mrs. Sparkling Hair asked me to tell you that she is thankful you left her at April's so she, me, and Ruffles McBearington can spend the Sunday together, but now she wants to go back to your place. She really likes living there. And I think she likes you too.  
I hope to see you again soon!_

_Yours,  
Madelyn_

Leo sighed silently when he read the part about Mrs. Sparkling Hair. So much for _accidentally_ leaving the doll with Madelyn. He had hoped she would take the doll back, so he didn't have to think about a new hiding place since it was getting harder and harder to close the drawer with all the letters stuffed in there. It was easier now that the doll wasn't in the drawer as well, but it looked like he had to take Mrs. Sparkling Hair back. Obviously, he really had to find a new hiding place for the doll. Gosh, it had been hard enough to take the doll to April's unseen. His brothers had wondered why he suddenly had needed a messenger bag while doing one of his solo training runs. He had told them that it was part of his training. They had bought it. And hopefully they would buy it again. And with that thought he took out his letter paper and started writing.


	14. The Truth Behind Leo's Weird Behavior

_Sorry for using this author's note for something that hasn't something to do with "My Mr. Turtle" in the first place, but I am too excited to let this drop. ;) So here you go:_

_There is this fanfiction competition, going on, The Annual TMNT Fanfiction Competition and I got nominated for Best New Author and my story "Mutating Mittens" got nominated for Best OC and Best Multichapter! This is so awesome! _

_For more information on the competition, please visit my profile. _

_I am going to keep you updated! ^^_

* * *

**Chapter 14: The Truth Behind Leo's Weird Behavior**

Leo was on his way back to the lair. He had just brought his latest letter to April, though it had taken him a bit longer than usual to write it. Madelyn had asked about April being upset and Leo hadn't been sure how much of April's secret he could tell. But he was pretty happy with what he had come up with.

Humming silently – and again, the melody had some resemblance with the 'Unicornia'-theme song, accidentally, of course – he climbed down into the sewers' tunnels and marched his way back to the lair, casually resting one hand on the messenger bag's shoulder strap.

He had thought of leaving Madelyn's doll at April's for a little longer, but the fact that Madelyn could be at April's apartment again soon and that seeing her favorite still there and not with her Mr. Turtle could upset her, had put him off doing so. Despite, now was as good a time as ever to get the doll back.

He had just entered the corridor to his room when he was grabbed from behind and dragged into Mikey's room. It happened so fast, all he could do was react with a yelp. _Quite a ninja you are, Leonardo._

Once in Mikey's room Leo looked around only to set eyes on Mikey and Raph who were looking at him quite angrily and accusingly.

"WHAT ON EARTH WERE YOU THINKING?!" Raph yelled at him which made Leo back away until his back was against the closed door.

"Now, Raph, calm down," Mikey said to his red-clad brother as he placed a calming hand on Raph's shoulder. "Leave this to someone who can stay calm under such adverse conditions, okay?"

Raph glared at Mikey for a second, then crossed his arms over his chest, lowering his angry burning eyes to the ground. "Okay," he mumbled.

"Good boy!" Mikey said to him with a broad smile, and then turned to Leo.

"HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO DONNIE?!" he shouted at his oldest brother. "DO YOU HAVE THE SLIGHTEST IDEA HOW SAD HE IS RIGHT NOW?!"

The volume and angriness of Mikey's voice was so unusual for the youngest turtle, it made Leo jump a little. And even Raph shot a surprised look at his little brother.

Leo looked at his brothers wide-eyed. "What are you talking about?"

"You and April!" Mikey said angrily.

"Me and April?" Leo's eyes grew even wider with surprise now.

"Yeah! We know you two are a couple!"

"April and I are a couple?" Leo blinked a few times. What the heck was going on here?

"There's no use in denying it!" Mikey went on, pointing at Leo. "She said it herself!"

"April said I was her boyfriend?"

"She did!"

"When?"

"When you were over at her place. I heard her saying it when I was following you!"

"You were following me?"

"Stop parroting, Leo!" Mikey's voice sounded even angrier now. "This is serious!"

"But it's not true!" Leo defended himself.

"How can it not be true?" Mikey asked. "You are meeting April without telling us, you are staying at her place, you were gone for nearly the whole night the other day! How can this not be a sign of you having a girlfriend?!"

"Because it's not true," Leo gave back. "April is not my girlfriend. I don't have a girlfriend!"

"Ha!" Raph burst out, looking at Mikey with a broad grin. "What was that about you being right?"

Mikey just growled. Then he turned back to Leo.

"But what else is going on then?" he asked.

"I can't tell you, okay?" the turtle in blue said as he readjusted the shoulder strap of his bag. "It's a secret."

And with that he turned around and wanted to leave the room, but Mikey grabbed his bag and was pulling on it in order to hold him back. "You're not going anywhere before you tell me what's going on!"

Leo quickly turned around, grabbing the messenger bag as well and tried really hard to wrest it from Mikey's grip, but there was one thing for sure: When Michelangelo had laid his hands on something he would never let go. It had always been like that, even when they were children.

Raph was just watching them in not so well hidden amusement until the bag's fastening gave in and a doll fell out of the bag. Raph's eyes widened in surprise, and even Mikey froze in his movements and stared down at the doll. Leo looked in shock from the doll to each of his brothers, then took advantage of Mikey being frozen and snatched his bag away from him. Then he knelt down, gently took the doll in his hand and put it back into the bag.

"Okay, this is getting weirder and weirder," Raph finally said. "First, you are humming the theme-song of a little girls' cartoon, and now you are playing with dolls?" He turned to his brother with an earnest look. "Seriously, Leo, what is going on here?"

With a sigh Leo got back on his feet and swung the messenger's bag shoulder strap over his shoulder again. He looked from Raph to Mikey and back to Raph.

_Okay, if I am not going to come up with a believable story in three seconds, I am going to tell them the truth._

_One…_

_Two…_

_Three…_

_Crud!_

He took another deep breath and then told them everything about Madelyn and how they had ended up being pen pals, how he had needed a laptop to be able to watch Madelyn's favorite TV show in secret, how April had become a hobby photographer and Madelyn's new babysitter, he told them about Mr. Dearing's accident and how he had spent the night in Madelyn's room to watch over her and her father while she was sleeping and how April had called him her boyfriend on the weekend when Mr. Dearing had asked about the male voice in the background on the phone.

"And I guess, that's it," he ended his explanations.

Raph and Mikey were still looking at him, blinking a few times as if to put together what they had just heard.

"Dude, I can't believe you didn't trust us enough to tell us about this," Mikey said finally.

"I thought you would make fun of me," Leo admitted.

"Bro, you were doing all these things just to make a little girl feel better," Raph threw in. "What would be funny about that?"

Leo lowered his eyes for a moment. "I guess you're right."

"And now go and tell Donnie what is going on," Raph commanded. "I don't want to have to take over his cleaning duty one more time just to make him feel better."

"He made you take over his cleaning duty?" Leo asked.

"Yeah, we cleaned the kitchen so he had enough time to get a hold of himself," Raph confirmed. "But I ain't doing that again. Now go!"

Leo just nodded and left the room.

"We are making fun of him, aren't we?" Mikey asked his older brother cautiously.

Raph smirked. "Ab-so-lute-ly!"

* * *

Donnie gave a little sigh when there was a knock on the door of his lab again. This was some busy day today!

"Come in!" he called out, but then he remembered that it could be Mikey or Raph and those two were thinking he was being depressed, so he added in sad voice. "If you want to, of course."

And when he looked up, making sure he looked as sad as he could manage to look like, he saw Leo approaching him. And their leader looked just as uncomfortable as Raph and Mikey had looked just hours ago.

"What is it, Leo?" Donnie asked and raised a brow.

"I..uhm..well…uhm…," Leo stammered while fiddling with his fingers. "I ..uhm…think there has been some sort of a …uhm…misunderstanding," he finally managed to say.

"Oooooookay," Donnie drawled.

"Well…uhm…April and I aren't a couple," Leo said.

Donnie's eyes widened a bit. _Oh, right, I am not supposed to know that already!_, he told himself. _Okay, award-winning performance coming up!_

"Oh, thank goodness!" he suddenly called out, pressing his hand to his plastron to where his heart was underneath in a dramatic gesture.

Leo watched this unemotionally and with a raised brow. What was going on here? This was so not Donnie.

"You knew already, didn't you?" he said when Donnie's _award-winning performance_ had come to an end.

"Yah," Donnie laughed insecurely and scratched the back of his head. "April told me by accident when there was a misunderstanding about why she wanted to see you alone."

Leo twisted his mouth. "So you just _pretended_ to Mikey and Raph that you were sad and depressed? Heck, you made them take over your cleaning duty!"

"I had to keep your secret!" Donnie gave back defensively. "I had promised that to April. And it is not my fault that I am intelligent enough to take advantage of it."

"You know what?" Leo said. "Because you kept my secret so long, I'll let you get away with it this time. But stop making people take over your cleaning duty!"

"Sensitive topic, huh?" Donnie asked with a smirk.

"No!"

"Suuuure," Donnie added. "But you know as good as I do, Leo, that I can't do that."

"Next time I won't let you get away with it!" Leo assured as he turned to leave the lab.

"If you catch me next time, that is," Donnie gave back, still smirking.

"We'll see about that!" Leo said at the door.

"Yes," Donnie said with a silent chuckle. "We will."

Leo blew a raspberry and then left Donnie's lab.

* * *

The next day Madelyn was already seated at her desk in the classroom. But there were still ten minutes left before their teacher was going to show up, so she took out Mr. Turtle's latest letter from her schoolbag and read it.

_Dear Madelyn,_

_You are right. The weekend was awesome! I hope we can do it again sometime soon!  
How's your father doing? Did the doctors remove his plaster?  
I can totally understand that you miss going for walks with your father, and I sure hope he will heal soon so that you two can go for walks again. Fingers crossed!  
Thank you, Madelyn. As I said I love playing Go Fish. And winning with cheating isn't exactly winning. You should win by sticking to the rules, and if you do so, it is a well-earned win. Anything else is just a loss disguised as a win.  
Of course we can talk about you becoming a kunoichi next time we meet. But I think you shouldn't start training yet. You are a little girl and need to grow up first. Despite, I am in the middle of my training myself, so I am not sure if I am going to be a good teacher. There are so many things I still have to learn before I'll be able to teach anyone. Do you think you could be patient on this one? I promise I am going to show you a trick or two so that you can defend yourself and your father, okay?  
Good job, Madelyn! Just do it again next time Billy is trying to tease you, and I bet he is going to lose interest in teasing you. I am so proud of you!  
Yes, I know what is going on with April, but I am not sure if I am allowed to tell you. But I think I can tell you this: April found out something about her past and it really threw her for a loop. I am not sure if there is something you can do to make her feel better. I am not even sure if there is something I can do for her. Just be the happy, little girl you've always been and show her that you like her and that she is important to you, and I think she is going to feel better in no time.  
I've just picked up Mrs. Sparkling Hair from April's and she is back in my room again. Do you really think she likes me? She didn't say anything about it.  
I hope to see you again soon, too!_

_Yours,  
Mr. Turtle_


	15. A Photographer and Her Muse

_Thank you all for your congratulations regarding my nomination in The Annual TMNT Fanfiction Competition. ^^ _

_Now, it's time to answer some questions. _

_Zeeweeble asked if Madelyn doesn't wonder if "Mr. Turtle" has a real name. Actually, no, she doesn't, at least not now. But there is going to be a scene in one of the next chapters about it. _

_dgLari asked if the other turtles are going to meet Madelyn. Yes, they are. But I am not sure, when exactly. _

_And Just Call Me J mentioned that now everyone knows about Madelyn, except for Splinter, maybe. I am going to tell Splinter's opinion on this "Madelyn-incident" in the next chapter. _

_So patience, please, my dear readers. ;)_

_That's it. On with the story. ^^_

* * *

**Chapter 15: A Photographer and Her Muse**

April climbed the stairs to Mr. Dearing's apartment. She still wasn't back to her usual self and kept pondering over mutants in general and being some kind of a mutant herself in special. And the recent encounter with mutant fungus spores that showed you your biggest fear really hadn't helped.

Her fear had been about her father and her friends being turned into bat mutants just like him. She had talked to Donnie about it afterwards, and it really had made her feel better, but when she had been lying awake the whole night after this incident, being too afraid to fall asleep, she had thought through what she had seen once more. And she had realized the following: Her fear wasn't so much that her father would attack her or even kill her. Sure, he was more animal than human right now and thus reacted to instincts, but he hadn't harmed her when he had gotten the chance. On the contrary, he had tried to protect her, to take care of her after he had been mutated. In a way, his instincts had told him to, though, but still.

No, her fear had been about losing her loved ones. She had realized that when she had analyzed her fear bit by bit. Her father had attacked her, but that wasn't what had made her afraid. It had been the fact that she couldn't talk to him, that she couldn't reach him, that she had lost him forever. And when Donnie had turned into a bat-mutant himself, it had been the same. Yes, he had tried to attack her as well, but again, aside from being shocked by his appearance and trying to protect herself, there had been that twinge deep inside her heart that had feared her the most – that she now had lost him forever.

And there still was this fear of what she might turn into one day, now that she knew she was part mutant herself. The fear of losing her loved ones not because they changed into something she couldn't get through to, but she did turn into something unutterable, something that couldn't be with them any longer because of what it was. This thought always gave her a slight shiver, and today was no exception. So she made sure she had gotten a hold on herself again before she knocked on the door.

Mr. Dearing answered the door almost immediately. His crutches had been replaced by a walking stick and the plaster on his one leg was gone. He smiled down at the teenage girl and stepped aside to let her in.

"Is Madelyn ready for our little photographer and assistant's walk?" April asked as cheerfully as possible without sounding weird, tapping at her messenger's bag where her digital camera was in.

"I guess so," Mr. Dearing answered as he closed the door. He then called for his daughter, "Madelyn! April is here!"

There was a rumbling to be heard, and seconds later Madelyn scampered inside from her room and flung her arms around April. "Aaaaaaaaaaaapril!"

The redhead just smiled and patted Madelyn's head gently. "Hello, Madelyn!"

The little girl let go of her.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" she burst out, and darted into her room again, only to come back inside at high-speed with a piece of paper and a pink letter in her hand.

"That's for Mr. Turtle," she explained as she handed April the letter. "And this is for you."

And with that she gave April the piece of paper.

The teenage girl looked at it. It was a drawing of two figures, one of them wore a yellow suit, white boots, a white belt, and a yellow mask, the other's outfit consisted of a pink suit, a purple belt, purple boots, and a pink mask. Both figures had red hair, although the hair of the smaller one was a bit browner and was shoulder-length, while the hair of the other figure was long and pulled into a low pony tail. And April recognized that the yellow one was wearing a yellow head-band. She smiled at the drawing.

"It's you and me in our…" – Madelyn paused for a moment and glanced over to her father – "…Halloween costumes. We are supposed to be superheroes."

"I can see that, "April said with a smile. "It's beautiful! Thank you!" She beamed at the little girl. Madelyn just looked at her with a happy smile.

"Now, are you ready for our photographer and assistant's walk?" April asked.

Madelyn nodded eagerly.

When they were out on the street, Madelyn glanced at April guiltily.

"I'm sorry, April," she mumbled. "I nearly gave away your secret."

April furrowed a brow. Secret? How could Madelyn possibly know about her secret?

"You know, about you being a superhero," Madelyn added in a whisper, and April choked a sigh of relief.

"That's okay, Madelyn," she said and squeezed the little girl's hand gently. "And by the way, that was a pretty nice safe back there."

"You really think so?" Madelyn looked at her friend wide-eyed.

"Of course!" April confirmed. "You improvised quite well! Good job!"

Madelyn laughed happily. "Thanks, April!"

"You are welcome!" April gave back with a smile.

* * *

When Raph entered the kitchen this evening he saw one of the funniest things he had ever seen.

Mikey was standing in front of Leo, waving a pink ribbon at the oldest turtle.

"I found this in the tunnels this morning," Mikey said excitedly. "Do you think your doll is going to like it?" He gave Leo a broad grin.

Raph bit his lower lip to prevent himself from bursting into laughter. _Good one, Mikey!_

"Haha, very funny," Leo replied soundlessly. "And it's Madelyn's doll, not mine!"

"Ooookay," Mikey gave back. "Is Madelyn's doll going to like it?"

"I don't know!"

"You want it or not?" Mikey asked further.

With a grunt Leo snatched the ribbon from Mikey.

_Maybe Madelyn would like it if I give her her doll back with some new accessories,_ Leo thought as he stomped out of the kitchen, being watched by a rather amused looking Raph.

The red-clad turtle waited until Leo was out of earshot.

"Good one, Mikey!" he said with a broad grin.

Mikey blinked at him. "Huh?"

"Your joke," Raph clarified.

"What joke?" Mikey asked as he rubbed the back of his head.

"The one with Leo and the pink ribbon," Raph clarified even more, his voice slightly annoyed now.

"That was a joke?" Mikey asked.

Raph just slapped his hand against his forehead and growled.

* * *

"April, April!" Madelyn called out cheerfully. "Look at these beautiful roses!"

And with that the little girl ran over to a rose bush. April followed suit.

They were in the New York Botanical Garden where April thought she could take some great photographs for the monthly Theme Challenge on the photographer's board she had joined some time ago thanks to the imprudent excuse she had used to explain to Mr. Dearing why she had found Madelyn's letter.

April smiled slightly. Had that only been a few weeks ago? Her new hobby, Madelyn, spending time with the little girl, and being her and Leo's _postwoman_ seemed so normal to her now – like it had always been that way.

"I usually prefer tulips, but those roses are beautiful!" Madelyn stated.

April had a closer look. Yes, she had to agree with the little girl. Those roses really were beautiful. And their color was really fitting as well. This month's theme was "innocence", and the roses were white, so this was just perfect.

"You are right, Madelyn," April assured. "And they are perfect for this month's theme. You are a great assistant!"

Madelyn beamed at her.

But when April took out her camera and pointed it to the rose bush, an idea formed in her head. She had planned on zooming in, so only the white rose blooms and the green leaves would be visible, but now that she looked through the view-finder and had Madelyn standing there so close to the rose bush, a new idea replaced her original one.

She smiled as she addressed the little girl. "Madelyn, do you want to help me a bit more with these photographs?"

Madelyn nodded in response.

"Okay, then stand still for a little," April commanded and released the shutter. "And now lift your one hand to one of the roses and gently touch the petals…"

* * *

On the evening of the same day April was sitting on the window bench of her room, the window open as usual, and looked through all the photographs she had taken that day on the camera's display. They were so beautiful! She had decided not to show Madelyn's face, thinking that it would match the innocence-theme even more. And as far as she could tell it had worked. There were pictures of Madelyn's little hands cupping a rose blossom, some photographs of her little fingers touching the petals, and some when she was sniffing a rose blossom though on the photograph only the bottom half of her face was visible.

A smile appeared on April's face as she thought about how beautiful this afternoon in the Botanical Garden had been.

_Looks like Madelyn isn't only my assistant_, she thought,_ but my muse as well_.

Then she heard the familiar thud that announced the arrival of Leo, but she didn't react, just kept looking through the photos.

She felt Leo moving closer, his breath brushing her cheek, as he looked over her shoulder.

"Nice!" he announced.

"I know!" April gave back. She showed Leo a few pics and then took the camera away. After that she reached for Madelyn's letter to hand it to Leo.

The turtle took it with a smile.

"And she gave me this today," April added and showed Leo the picture Madelyn had drawn for her.

Leo's smile deepened. "Yeah, she told me she wanted to draw you a picture. She realized you were down and wanted to cheer you up."

April looked at the picture and gently touched the face of superhero-Madelyn with a smile.

Leo chuckled gently. "Well, I'd say, mission accomplished!"

* * *

When Leo was back in his room later, he sighed in relief. When he had passed the living room, he had realized Raph had been looking at the pink letter in his hand. Now that his brothers knew about Madelyn, Leo didn't care much about hiding the letters. And he was pretty sure Raph had thought of something teasingly on this, given the fact how he had stared at the letter. Leo had literally seen the wheels in his brother's brain work, but before the hothead had been able to come up with something, Leo had entered the corridor that led to his room.

Leo flopped on his bed and yanked the letter open. But before he started reading, he looked over to his bookshelf where Mrs. Sparkling Hair had found her new home. He had tied her hair into a braid earlier today, using the pink ribbon Mikey had given him. And yes, he was still proud of the result.

With a smile he turned to reading the letter.

_Dear Mr. Turtle,_

_Yes, the weekend was so great! I'll ask Daddy if I can stay at April's for the weekend again soon.  
Daddy is doing fine. The doctors removed his plaster, and now he only needs a walking stick instead of the crutches. And this is so much better! I think we can go for walks again soon. This makes me so happy!  
You are right, Mr. Turtle. Winning with cheating isn't actually winning. I promise I'll never cheat again!  
I see. I still want to be a kunoichi and protect Daddy, but if you show me some tricks so I can protect Daddy and me, I think I can wait until you finish your training.  
Thank you, Mr. Turtle! It wasn't easy, but I did it! Billy tried again to tease me today, but again I wasn't listening, and he gave up even faster than last time. Thank you so, so much for your advice again!  
I finished the picture for April today and will give to her later when she picks me up for our photographer's walk. I am her assistant, you know. We are going to the Botanical Garden! I can't wait! I so hope she will like the picture and it will make her feel better! April is a super-nice girl, and she should never be sad. But the next picture is for you, Mr. Turtle. What do you want me to draw for you?  
Of course Mrs. Sparkling Hair didn't say anything. She would never admit she really likes you. She is too proud to say that. But believe me, she likes you and she likes living with you.  
Can we have another tea party with April again next time we meet? I want to cheer her up even more._

_Yours,  
Madelyn_


	16. One Moment of Negligence

_Okay, I owe Just Call Me J an apology. I promised to tell Splinter's opinion on the Madelyn-incident in this chapter, but there were some scenes that had to come out first. Sorrysorrysorry! I'm writing about Splinter in the next chapter, I hope. And no, I am not making any promises I might not be able to keep (again). ._

* * *

**Chapter 16: One Moment of Negligence**

Leo did his best to fade out Mikey who was bustling about in his room. The youngest turtle had Mrs. Sparkling Hair in his one hand and showed the doll around – at least, that was what he called it. So far, he had introduced her to Leo's "Space Heroes"-posters, Leo's bookshelves, Leo's bed, and Leo's bedside rug.

Leo had decided that it would be best to just ignore Mikey and not show him how annoying this was. His little brother wanted to tease him. And Leo knew from experience that Mikey would give up sooner if he just let Mikey fool around and not give him any attention. But he had to admit, Mikey was pretty persistent today.

Leo mentally rolled his eyes before he turned back to his letter and re-read what he had written as a reply to Madelyn's letter.

_Dear Madelyn,_

_What did your father say? Is he okay with you spending another weekend at April's? But we have to check first if April's aunt is at home or not. When she's around I'm not sure I can come over for a visit. Sorry.  
That's the spirit, Madelyn! And I am sure with a bit of practice, you will be able to beat me at Go Fish in no time.  
You are so, so welcome, Madelyn! Did Billy try to tease you again?  
April showed me some photographs of your visit in the Botanical Garden, and they are so beautiful. So I guess you had a lot of fun there, didn't you? I wish I could join you next time. But for talking turtles it is a bit dangerous to go outside when everyone can see them. I hope you understand.  
April showed me the picture you drew for her as well. It is so cute! I really love the superhero-outfits. So how about you think a superhero-outfit up for me too? I bet it would look awesome!  
I see. You know Mrs. Sparkling Hair longer than I do, so I guess I have to believe you on this one. Right now, my youngest brother is showing her around. I think he likes her. But he can be a bit annoying sometimes. Do you think she would tell me if he annoys her? I don't want her to get angry.  
Of course we can have another tea party together with April next time. You are such a sweet little girl, Madelyn, and it is really noble from you that you want to cheer April up. I know your picture made her really happy, so I think you are well on the way.  
Hope to see you soon!_

_Yours,  
Mr. Turtle_

He nodded contentedly, folded the letter, put it into the envelope and sealed it. The blue-masked turtle raised a brow as he realized how good the fading-out-Mikey-thing had actually worked as he looked around his room until it hit him. He hadn't been super-good at fading out Mikey, no, Mikey had left his room!

Leo jumped to his feet, closed his eyes for a moment to listen if he could hear his youngest brother. When he had heard what he had been waiting for, he opened his eyes again and ran into the living room. There he was, continuing to show Mrs. Sparkling Hair around. Right now, Mikey was introducing her to the TV.

"And this is our TV," Mikey said as he held the doll out to the screen. "TV, this is Madelyn's doll."

Leo marched over to Mikey and held out his hand.

"Okay, that's enough, Mikey," he said gravely. "Give me Mrs. … I mean, give me Madelyn's doll back."

"Why?" Mikey asked. "I haven't even showed her the remote control yet."

"Don't you think you have made enough fun of me for one day?" Leo gave back and snatched the doll from Mikey's hand.

"Fun?" the youngest turtle asked confused. "Why do you think I'm making fun of you?" He pressed one finger against his lips, thinking about this. "Raph has said something similar when I gave you the pink ribbon, but why? Why do you all think I am making fun of you?"

"You aren't making fun of me?" Now it was Leo's turn to look confused.

"Dude, you are doing your best to make a little girl happy," Mikey explained. "And I thought I might contribute to that by showing her doll around."

"I bet Raph would make fun of it."

"Sure. And in a way it is funny, and I am going to make fun of you eventually, but not through a little girl and her doll," Mikey said.

"That's…actually really nice of you," Leo said, a slight disbelieving ring to his voice.

"I know, right?" Mikey beamed at him. "So can I show Madelyn's doll around a little more?"

Leo nodded and handed Mikey the doll. "Her name's Mrs. Sparkling Hair."

"Well then, Mrs. Sparkling Hair," Mikey said to the doll, "I am Michelangelo and I am your host today. So let's continue, shall we? Now, here we have the most important thing to be found in this living room, the remote control." He gestured with his free hand in the direction of the said object. "Remote control, please meet Mrs. Sparkling Hair."

Leo shook his head slightly, an amused look on his face as he turned around and left the living room again.

* * *

Slowly April opened her eyes, shaking off the warm and dull feeling of the dream she had just had as she sat up. Luckily, it hadn't been a nightmare this time. Piece for piece she put together what had happened before she had fallen asleep.

Mr. Dearing had asked her to watch over Madelyn this evening while he was at the hospital for physical therapy. She and Madelyn had done Madelyn's homework together and then watched a "Unicornia"-episode, and it appeared that April must have fallen asleep during the episode. Just a sign of how tired she must have been. The redhead squeezed her eyes shut and opened them again to thus get rid of the last bit of sleepiness and then looked around.

She set eyes on Madelyn in the back of the living room, dancing around with a beautiful fan in her little hand, bouncing and spinning and waving the fan around. April smiled when she saw that.

But the moment she was able to catch a closer look on the fan, her smile faded immediately. Her eyes widened in shock and her heart skipped a beat as she realized that this was no ordinary fan Madelyn was playing around with, but her tessen.

With an alarmed outcry April jumped to her feet and rushed over to the little girl, wresting the tessen from her hand.

"This is no toy, Madelyn!" she yelled at the little girl while she flipped the tessen closed. "This is a weapon, a dangerous weapon, Madelyn! You could have gotten hurt!"

"I…I…," Madelyn stammered, her eyes huge in shock as she faced the most furious April she had ever seen.

"Have you rummaged through my bag?!" April asked. "Or how else did you get your hands on my weapon?!"

"I…I…," Madelyn repeated her stammering.

"Madelyn!" April's voice had reached a volume that made the little girl flinch.

Tears welled in Madelyn's eyes and with a sob she ran for her room and shut the door closed.

April watched this and the moment she heard the door close, she slapped her hand against her forehead. What had she just done?

She walked over to the door at a slow place, thinking about what just had happened. Sure, it had been wrong from Madelyn to rummage her bag and take her tessen out to play with it. But how should the little girl have known that this was no ordinary fan, but a dangerous weapon? April mentally slapped herself. Why had she yelled at her? Why hadn't she just gotten her tessen back, tell Madelyn what this was all about, explain to her why it was dangerous to play with it and why it was wrong to rummage another person's bag without permission? Why had she had to lose her temper right now? She knew she had been too shocked, too afraid that Madelyn would get hurt to stay calm, but did she have to lose her temper this badly? She knew better than to yell at a little girl.

With a sigh she knocked at Madelyn's door gently.

"Madelyn," she said softly, "Madelyn, look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you. Can I…can I come in and we talk this through?"

There was no answer, just some muffled sobbing that reached April's ears. The teenage girl sighed and stepped back from the door. She wouldn't go in there until Madelyn told her she was fine with it. But she felt so guilty. There needed to be something she could do. She looked around the living room, the kitchenette, but there wasn't anything helpful in here.

April choked another sigh as she walked over to her bag and tucked her tessen away.

* * *

When Madelyn heard the rustling of paper, she lifted her head that she had pressed against one of the pillows on her bed and looked over to the door. She frowned at the sheet of paper that had been pushed under the door. Determinedly, she wiped the last of her tears away and went over to pick it up.

It was just a random sheet of paper, squared, as if someone had just pulled it out of a notebook. When Madelyn turned it around she realized that there was a face drawn on it with a ball pen, a face with freckles and bangs and hair in a low ponytail. The face's mouth corners were pulled down so much, they nearly reached the chin.

A slight smile appeared on Madelyn's face as she took the drawing and went over to her little desk.

* * *

April was staring at the door of Madelyn's room, hoping that the girl would finally open it and come out. But instead of that a piece of paper was pushed under it. With a frown April picked it up. She looked at the picture and smiled. There had been added a little body, arms, hands, and legs to the face she had drawn of herself. The sad mouth had been drawn over with a red crayon and turned into a big smile. And a second little figure had been added to the picture, smiling just as big as the other figure, and she and the April-figure were holding hands.

That moment the door was opened and a guilty looking Madelyn stepped out. She came to a halt in front of April, her eyes lowered to the ground.

April bent her knees to be on the same level with Madelyn.

"Madelyn, I'm sorry," she said gently. "I shouldn't have yelled at you. I was just…so afraid you might get hurt that I couldn't control my voice. It won't happen again. I promise."

"And I shouldn't have rummaged through your bag and take your fan out to play with it," Madelyn replied. "I am sorry too."

April placed a hand on the little girl's shoulder. "So are we okay again?"

Madelyn lifted her head, looking April into the eye with a smile, and nodded.

April returned the smile.

* * *

"No way!" Mikey called out, his voice echoing through the hallway in front of the kitchen. "You really made him do that?!"

"Worse!" April gave back with a smile. "I even put tomato sauce into the microwave way too long, and it somehow exploded. It looked like some mini-volcano had erupted in there."

Mikey laughed so hard he nearly fell from his chair.

That was the moment Leo entered the kitchen.

"Having fun, you two?" he said cautiously.

"Sure do!" Mikey replied.

"Okay," Leo just gave back as he handed April his latest letter for Madelyn.

The teenage girl took it and stuffed it into her bag.

Mikey looked at his oldest brother with a broad grin on his face.

"What?" Leo gave back.

"Oh, I am just thinking of a new nickname for you," Mikey explained, the grin on his face growing even broader. "Now that I know how much cleaning experience you have, what about _Leo, the Cleaner_? No, wait! _Cleaning Leo_?! _The Fearless Feather Duster_?!"

Leo just growled and left the kitchen. He had just entered the hallway when Mikey called after him, "See, Leo? That's what it's like when I _really_ am making fun of you!"


	17. Stubborn Angel

_Thanks again for your support, my dear readers! ^^ Who would have thought a story about a little girl and her not-so-imaginary friend would attract so much attention? Not that I am complaining, though. ;) I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate your support, I guess. ;)_

_And there's another question I have. Considering that I upload about three chapters a week, do you think that's okay? Or is it too much and people might get an overload of this story and stop reading it? If you prefer, I could upload just one chapter per week. Just let me know what would work best for you. Thank you! ^^_

* * *

**Chapter 17: Stubborn Angel**

Leo was on the way to his room to read Madelyn's latest letter, holding the pink envelope in his one hand, as he was approached by his sensei.

"Leonardo," Splinter said gently, "may I have a word with you?"

Leo stopped immediately and looked at Splinter, his answer a light nod.

"Very well." Splinter smiled down at him. "Don't you want to tell me what is going on?" He nodded his head towards the letter in his son's hand.

Leo's eyes followed Splinter's gesture, before he looked at his father again, a deep frown on his face.

"Haven't you heard yet?" Leo asked cautiously.

"True, I happened to _overhear_ a thing or two. But I haven't heard from you," Splinter explained in a gentle voice. "So do you want to tell me or not?"

Leo's frown grew deeper.

His father chuckled a bit. "This is no order, Leonardo," he explained. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I am just curious, that's all."

Leo thought about that for a moment. Now that his brothers knew about Madelyn, why not tell Splinter as well? And wouldn't it be a bit unfair to tell his brothers, but leave his father to draw his own conclusions from what he had overheard from the talks between him and his brothers? Despite, who knew what Raph, Mikey, and Donatello actually were saying about this whole pen pal-incident? What if they weren't telling the truth?

He gave another nod and told Splinter the story about how he had met Madelyn, how he had ended up being her pen pal, how April had helped and discovered her love for photography along the way, how she had become Madelyn's babysitter, and how he had watched over the little girl the other night and met her at April's last weekend.

Splinter was listening carefully, nodding slightly from time to time. When Leo had ended his story, there was a moment of silence before the ninja master began to speak.

"I like how you care about this little girl, Leonardo," he said. "She really has grown close to you in this short time. But keep in mind that being in contact with her could put her in danger in view of the fact of whom we are fighting and who our enemies are. Letting someone in your heart always brings along responsibility."

Leo nodded his head. "I know, sensei." He hesitated for a moment before he went on. "I told you about my nightmares the other day, sensei, about my fears. I know the risk. And I know that this friendship is worth the risk. Being friends with someone who isn't part of your team, with whom you don't have to fight the most dangerous, deadly enemies one can come up with, being friends with someone who doesn't see you as a leader, but as who you really are, makes the responsibility so much more bearable. With Madelyn, I can just be her friend. I don't have to be a leader, a big brother, I don't have to be the most reasonable one around, I don't have to make decisions that might cost someone's life. I can just be me, and no-one else." He looked at his father. "Being friends with Madelyn is fun."

"I see." Splinter stroked his beard, lost in thought for a moment, before he looked at his son with a warm smile. "Is that the reason you tried to keep this a secret? It would have been easier to find Madelyn if you had asked Donatello for help."

Leo's eyes widened for a moment. It was a miracle to him how his father managed to see right through him, to get to the core of his intentions just like that. "Sensei," he said, returning Splinter's warm smile. "That's exactly the reason."

Splinter laid a hand on Leo's shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze before he left for the dojo.

Leo watched him for a moment, then he continued his path.

* * *

With a sigh Leo slumped down on his bed, Madelyn's letter in hand. But before he started reading it, he thought about the little talk he had had with Splinter. He knew the reason he was so possessive of Madelyn was the feeling she gave him, the feeling of not having to be the leader for once, the feeling of being able to just be Mr. Turtle. And he loved the little girl for that. And sharing her with April was okay. His relationship with April wasn't about leadership in the first place. But with his brothers he had to be leader most of the time. That was the difference. And that was the reason he wasn't able to share Madelyn with his brothers yet. Maybe one day, but definitely not now. That was his last thought before he started reading.

_Dear Mr. Turtle,_

_I just talked to Daddy, and he said yes! And not just that! I am going to stay the whole week because our old apartment is finally whole again, and we can move back. And Daddy is going to be busy all week because of the move. I can't wait to be back home! Just one more week! So you can visit me at April's from Saturday on. Can't wait to see you and show you how good I got at playing Go Fish.  
No, Billy didn't try to tease me again. I hope it stays that way. And if not, I will just ignore him again.  
The photographer's walk was awesome! It was so much fun! I understand that you can't come with us. You are a superhero. You need to stay hidden.  
And of course I will draw a picture of you in your superhero-outfit for you. I have some ideas, and I will start today.  
Mrs. Sparkling Hair would tell you right away if your brother annoys her. She isn't really good at hiding her feelings when she doesn't like something.  
Thank you, Mr. Turtle! But I made a mistake. I played with April's beautiful fan and when she saw it she got angry and took it away from me. She yelled at me that it was weapon and dangerous, but how can a fan be a weapon? I didn't ask her because we made up again and I wanted to forget about it, but I am curious. Could you explain me how a fan can be dangerous? I realized it was heavier than the fans I have at home. Is that the reason why it is a weapon?  
Hope to see you on Saturday! _

_Yours,  
Madelyn_

Leo chuckled when he read that Madelyn wasn't concerned that he couldn't be seen by other humans because he was a giant, talking turtle, but because he was a superhero.

But when he read about the fan-incident, his smile faded. April had told him about that and how she had lost her temper because she was so afraid of Madelyn getting hurt. He could relate to that. He would be scared to death if he found Madelyn playing with his katanas. And maybe he would yell at her as well just because of his fear.

About seeing Madelyn on Saturday, he knew he wouldn't make it. Splinter had planned a special training exercise for Saturday that would probably last the whole night. But maybe he could visit Madelyn on Sunday. He truly hoped so.

* * *

_Dear Madelyn,_

_I am happy to hear that you can move back home soon. It would make visiting you a bit easier, I think. As for the weekend, I am afraid I can't come over for a visit on Saturday. April's aunt won't be around on Saturday until later that night, April told me, but my brothers and I have an important training exercise at Saturday night. But I promise I will come over for a visit as soon as possible.  
Yes, us superheroes need to stay hidden. You are right about that one, Madelyn.  
Okay. Mrs. Sparkling Hair hasn't said anything yet, so I think my brother doesn't annoy her. That's good to know.  
April has told me about what has happened. You should know that April's fan is a special fan. It is called a tessen. They look like fans, but in reality they are dangerous weapons. It's not only that a tessen is heavier than a normal fan – a tessen is made of metal, that's because it is heavier – but it's sharp like a blade. You could have cut yourself. But for details, please ask April to show you why a tessen is dangerous. It is her weapon after all. You two are friends again, and I bet April would explain to you how a tessen works. I even dare to say that she'd love to do so. And it would distract her even more from the things that make her sad at the moment. Would that be okay?  
See you soon!_

_Yours,  
Mr. Turtle_

When Madelyn lowered the letter and looked up at April, the teenage girl's eyes widened in surprise at the look on Madelyn's face. Her brow was furrowed, her lips compressed into a thin line.

"Why isn't Mr. Turtle coming?" she asked in a lowered voice.

"Oh, Madelyn, sweetie, he would _love_ to come today, but he can't," April explained. "He and his brothers have this important training session today."

"Why can't they have it tomorrow?"

"That's not his choice. It's their sensei, their trainer who decides so."

Madelyn stomped her foot. "But I want to see Mr. Turtle now! I practiced playing Go Fish with Daddy the whole week and I want to show him how good I am now!"

"Sweetie, you can play Go Fish with me," April suggested, but the moment she had said that she knew it wouldn't work. The furrows on Madelyn's forehead grew even deeper as the little girl stomped her foot again.

"But I want Mr. Turtle!" she called out.

April's eyes widened a little more. "Sorry, Madelyn, but you have to be patient…"

"I always have to be patient!" Madelyn interrupted her. "And I was patient very long! But I don't want to be patient now! I want Mr. Turtle!"

April blinked a few times. Part of her refused to accept what she was seeing. Sure, Leo had told her how stubborn Madelyn had been when she had forced him to stay for tea the first night they had met, but somehow April just hadn't believed him. To her, Madelyn had always been the sweetest little angel. But now she had to face the truth. This angel could be stubborn at times.

"Madelyn, dear…," she tried to talk to the little girl again, only to be interrupted by another "I want Mr. Turtle!"-shout. And this time Madelyn took a deep breath and then just held her breath.

"No, Madelyn, don't do that!" "April said. "Madelyn, please!"

* * *

Leo and his brothers were standing in the sewers' tunnel leading to their lair, Splinter in front of them as their sensei gave them some instructions on tonight's training exercise.

"So I am going to give you a few hints how to find…" Splinter said, but was interrupted by the ringing of Leo's Tphone.

"Sorry, sensei!" Leo said quickly as he reached for his phone. "I forgot to turn that off!" But the moment he looked at the display, the thought of not answering the call disappeared.

"That's April!" he called out. "I need to get this. Maybe something's wrong with Madelyn!" And with that he answered the phone, stepping away a bit from his brothers and his sensei. They could still hear him talking, though.

"April, I can't come over! We have a training exercise! … I understand that you must be desperate if you even tried to call your aunt, but how is she supposed to pick up when she is at the movie theater? … What do you mean by _'she refuses to breathe'_? How can someone refuse to breathe? Breathing is essential! … What? She's turning blue? You gotta do something! … Stop yelling at me! …I…I see what I can do."

With a sigh he tucked his Tphone away and turned to face his sensei, thinking of something he could tell him to be released from tonight's training session. He was still wracking his brain, when his father addressed him.

"You may go," Splinter said simply.

Leo blinked a few times until the full impact of Splinter's word hit him.

"Thank you, sensei!" he called out and left.

His three brothers watched him leave.

"What?!" Raph called out. "You let him leave just like that?"

"Sometimes there are more important things in life than training, Raphael," Splinter gave back.

"Is pizza more important than training?" Mikey asked.

"No."

"What about 'Super Robo Mecha Force Five!'? Mikey asked further.

"No."

"Comic books?"

"No."

"And you are sure that training is more important than pizza?"

"Michelangelo!"


	18. Curious Observers

_Thank you again for your support! Now that I know you it's okay this story has several updates a week, I think I am going to stick to it – as much as my free time allows it, though. I think two updates at week (at least) should be possible. Thanks again! ^^_

_As for Madelyn's tantrum in the last chapter and Leo's reaction to it, there isn't really something you could call a reaction. When Leo showed up, Madelyn immediately switched back to the sweet little darling she usually is (I tell this in the chapter as well, but it's more of a side note). I know this kind of behavior from my godchildren. Once they get what they want they are sweet angels again with no sign of that they have been little devils just two seconds ago. It's the same with Madelyn. And that she can be really stubborn and pushy is shown in "Slash and Destroy", so I thought it was about time to show this side of her as well. She has been so reasonable and cute (except for her attack on Billy), that we all somehow forgot that she can be stubborn and undiscerning as well. Now we have all been reminded of that. ;) Back to sweet Madelyn. ^^_

* * *

**Chapter 18: Curious Observers**

With a sigh April slumped down next to Leo on the floor in April's room and leaned her back against the wall. She flung her arms around her legs and rested her chin on her knees, but then turned her head look at Leo. She shifted her head a bit so that it was finally her cheek that rested on her knees which was way more comfortable when you wanted to talk. And that was what she wanted to do. But before she began to speak she looked at the little girl resting in Leo's arms, sleeping tight as she was curled up in his lap.

"How can such a small human make such a big fuss?" she asked silently, followed by another sigh.

Leo chuckled as he looked April over for a moment. She was still shaky from trying to calm Madelyn down earlier and sure looked exhausted.

"Growing up with Mikey," he gave back in a calm voice, "I have to admit that I am not that surprised."

April blew out her cheeks as she turned her head again and let her forehead rest on her knees now, hiding her face between her arms that were still slung around her knees.

"Seriously," she said, her voice muffled a bit by her arms, "I had no idea she could be _that_ stubborn."

Leo chuckled again and patted Madelyn's head carefully before he let his one arm slip under her knees, let the other rest on her back and picked her up. The little girl stirred a bit as he got up and tucked her in April's bed, but one tender pat on her head and she was calm again.

April had lifted her head again and watched as Leo covered the girl with the blanket.

"And you arrived and she was the sweet little angel again I used to know," she said.

"I knew that she could be really stubborn," he just said as he sat down next to April again.

"Next time give me a little…no a big warning, okay?" the redhead gave back.

"I did tell you about it," Leo laughed silently.

"That's what I would call a mini-warning," April explained. "As I said, I want a big warning next time. And by big, I mean _gigantic_, okay?"

Leo casually patted her knee and got up.

"Better get going," he told her. "Your aunt could be back any minute now."

April just nodded. Leo held out a hand and helped his human friend to her feet.

"And you really are okay with Madelyn sleeping in your bed?" he asked cautiously.

"Leo, right now, I would rather sleep on cold concrete than risk waking her up," April retorted.

"Well, at least she was successful with her mission," Leo stated.

"Mission?"

"Yes, she wants to make you feel better because you were being so sad recently."

"But I am not feeling better."

Leo gave a warm smile. "Liar."

April tried hard to keep a serious face, but finally she lost the fight and a big grin appeared on her face. "Okay, you're right."

Leo patted her shoulder for a moment. "And she has distracted you from your brooding."

"True." April was still smiling.

"See?" Leo gave back as he opened the window and climbed outside on the fire escape. "So it wasn't so bad after all."

April rested her hands on the window bench, her eyes following the mutant's every move. "Oh, it was bad!" she said. "It was really, really bad!"

Leo replied with another smile which April couldn't help, but return. He waved at her, turned around and disappeared into the night.

* * *

The next morning – a really early morning – the four turtle brothers were gathered in the kitchen. Mikey was making breakfast as usual, but he was rather drowsy in his movements, and Donnie and Raph looked just as sleepy. The only well-rested turtle around was Leo which wasn't really a surprise. His brothers had been out all night on their training exercise with Splinter and had arrived at around five in the morning. Leo had gotten up then to have breakfast together with his family, but Splinter had marched right to his room. He had just said to Leo that he wanted to meet him at the dojo after noon for some extra training while his brothers had a day off today. Leo had just nodded and then shoved his brothers into the kitchen. At first, he had wanted to ask them about their training, but since they were acting more like zombies now than mutant turtles he had decided against it.

With a frown the blue-masked turtle looked over to his youngest brother who had been looking into the kitchen unit without actually moving for moments now, and so he decided it was about time he gave his little brother a hand.

He knew he wasn't good at preparing any kind of food and especially not breakfast, but all he had to do today was shoving Mikey into the right directions and nudging him when it looked like he was about to doze off. And it worked pretty well.

Half an hour later they were eating their breakfast in silence – although Leo could feel Raph's angry gaze from time to time. But his brother was simply too tired to make a comment about Leo ditching them yesterday, and Leo was really thankful for that.

So when they had finished their breakfast, Leo shoved his brothers into their rooms.

"Good night…I mean day…I mean, sleep well!" he finally managed to say. All he got from his brothers in response were tired nods.

* * *

After his extra-training with Splinter which had lasted the entire afternoon Leo was happy to receive a message from April that her aunt had decided to visit some friends for dinner and thus she and Madelyn were alone in the apartment now. Spending some more time with Madelyn would make him feel better, especially when he thought of how much his limbs hurt now. Splinter definitely had made sure he would make up for the missed training session the last night.

So when he passed the living room where his still a bit tired brothers were gathered he just waved at them and left.

He didn't see the look his brothers shared, though.

* * *

"Tell me again why we spot on Leo?" Mikey asked in a whisper which made him earn annoyed groans from Donnie and Raph in response.

"We don't have anything better to do," Raph gave back.

"And we're curious," Donnie added.

They were on a rooftop opposite April's apartment building, each of them holding a spyglass to their eyes and watching what was going on in April's apartment. From what they could see, Leo and the little girl were playing some card game in the back of the living room while April was sitting at the coffee table working on her laptop. Suddenly, all three Tphones beeped, and the brothers reached for them, checking their messages.

_Stop this! Now! _

"Did you two also get a text message from April that we should stop this now?" Donnie asked.

His brothers nodded in response.

"I wonder how she even knows we're here," Raph tossed in.

"Yeah, we're ninjas!" Mikey agreed.

Another beep made them look at their Tphones again.

_I'm a kunoichi, remember?_

The three brothers looked at each other frowningly.

"You know what?" Raph said. "I guess that's just a lucky shot. She's just goofing around. How would she know we're here?"

"Yeah, you're possibly right," Donnie said, lifted the spyglass to his eyes and looked at April's apartment again. He realized that the girl was standing at the now open window and when he raised his gaze he saw that April crossed her arms over her chest. And that she was looking directly at him with a very angry look on her face!

"Whoa!" he called out and jumped backwards, looking at his brothers rather shocked. "No, you're not. She knows we're here!"

His brothers blinked at him a few times before they checked themselves only to find April gone.

"Nah, you're wrong, bro!" Mikey called out. "April's not even there any longer."

"Which raises the question," Raph said. "Where did she go?"

"Right here!" an angry and all too familiar voice answered from behind them, and when the turned around they saw April stepping out on the rooftop from the door leading to the staircase. She was breathing a bit heavily from having run to get up there quickly, but that only contributed to the angry look on the girl's face.

"What the heck do you think you're doing here?" she called out to them. "Can't you leave your brother alone for a while?"

"No," Mikey gave back matter-of-factly. "Because we're curious."

"Then be curious at home!" April retorted. "Now let Leo be! He has the right to do some things on his own."

"But April…" Donnie started, but was interrupted by April.

"Off with you!" the teenage girl called out. "Shoooo, shoooooo!"

And before they even knew what was going on, April had chased them off the rooftop.

* * *

Leo had been a bit surprised when April had told them she would go out to get them a pizza for dinner, but he was totally okay with it. It gave him the opportunity to talk to Madelyn which after her behavior the night before was rather appropriate. But he had no idea how to start such a talk, and he was so lost in thought that he totally forgot that it was his turn at Go Fish.

Madelyn watched the somehow frozen turtle for a while until she raised her voice. "Mr. Turtle, it's your turn."

Leo snapped out of his trance. "Uh…what?"

"It's your turn," the little girl repeated, looking him over. "Are you okay, Mr. Turtle?"

Leo cleared his throat. "Actually, I am not. Can we…can we put aside the cards for a moment?"

Madelyn nodded earnestly and laid her cards on the floor. Leo did so too and looked at her for a moment. What would be the best way to begin this? Again, he was so caught up in his thoughts that Madelyn had to snap him out of it again by calling him.

"Mr. Turtle?" she asked, an anxious ring in her voice.

"Uh, sorry, Madelyn!" Leo told her, but then looked the girl in the eye. "Madelyn, I wanted to talk about yesterday. About your behavior."

Madelyn lowered her eyes guiltily.

"I mean, I do understand why you get impatient and all, but do you think it is okay to give April such a hard time?"

Madelyn slightly shook her head.

"Do you know it was wrong?"

The little girl nodded.

"Are you going to apologize to April?"

She nodded again.

Leo patted her head with a warm smile. "That's the Madelyn I know."

Madelyn lifted her head and looked at Leo, a small smile appearing on her face.

At that moment the door to the apartment was unlocked and seconds later April entered the living room, carrying a pizza box.

"Pizza's here!" she called out happily.

Leo looked at Madelyn, tilting his head into April's direction. The little girl just nodded and got to her feet. She walked over to April and just stood there, her eyes lowered to the ground. April put down the pizza box on the coffee table, shoving her laptop out of the way, and then turned to look at Madelyn.

"Yes, Madelyn?" she asked, raising a brow.

The girl was shifting her weight uneasily for a few moments.

"I…I am sorry," she finally said and raised her eyes. "I am sorry for giving you such a hard time yesterday."

"Oh, sweetie!" April called out and knelt down. "It's okay."

"No, it's not," Madelyn gave back. "It was wrong. And I am sorry."

April smiled at her. "Thank you, Madelyn! You know, I think I can understand you. You wanted to see L…I mean, Mr. Turtle so badly and then somehow lost your temper. I know how it is. And we both know it's wrong. But it could happen to all of us. So no hard feelings, dear!"

Madelyn beamed at her and then flung her little arms around April's neck. The redhead hugged her back, lifting the little girl up as she rose to her feet again and then sat down on the couch, letting Madelyn slide down on the couch next to her.

"So, where were we?" she asked. "It had something to do with pizza, I think." She playfully placed a finger on her chin, furrowing her brow, as if she was thinking hard which made Madelyn giggle. "Oh, yeah, right," she finally said. "Who wants pizza?"

"Me!" Madelyn called out.

"Me too!" Leo called out even louder from the other end of the living room, running over to them in a rush and slumping down on the couch next to Madelyn.

"Oh, what a coincidence!" April said cheerfully. "I want pizza too!"

And with that she opened the box, and soon they were all munching away on their pizza happily.


	19. Mr Beam

_About your questions regarding Madelyn's (and maybe her father's) appearance in "Of Rats and Men", yes, I have recognized it. And I am definitely going to write about in one of the next chapters. And I am really looking forward to it. But right now, this story is a bit behind in time. This chapter is set after "Metalhead Rewired". _

_By the way, thank you all so, so much for your reviews! We've reached 266 so far. *hugs you all*_

* * *

**Chapter 19: Sick Leave Cover**

_Dear Mr. Turtle,_

_It is so great to be back home! It took Daddy some time to make my room look like it looked before the house was broken, but now everything is fine again. All my toys and books and dresses are back in their places, and it feels good to sleep in my own bed again.  
I really enjoyed spending some time with you last week. It was so fun!  
I still have to ask April about the special fan. The whole last week we were too busy doing our homework and playing that I forgot to ask. And now that Daddy can walk again without his walking stick, April doesn't bring me to school or picks me up any longer. I only see her when she babysits me. I have to talk to Daddy. I really like April and I want to see her more often. But I promise I won't lose my temper about not seeing someone in a while again! It was wrong. I know that.  
Is Mrs. Sparkling Hair doing fine? I am sure your brother doesn't annoy her. She would have told you if he does. Maybe she likes him, too. If he likes tea parties, I am sure she likes him. Mrs. Sparkling Hair is fond of tea parties.  
Now that I am back home, could you visit me more often, Mr. Turtle? We should have a tea party again. _

_Yours,  
Madelyn_

Leo read the letter once more to make sure he hadn't missed anything. He had no idea what was wrong with him today, but his head was killing him. And his vision got blurry from time to time. He was sure it hadn't anything to do with Metalhead giving them such a hard time during training before the little robot had been destroyed. He sighed when he thought of that, especially when he thought of Donnie. His brother had been so down lately. And he had no idea how to cheer him up.

Leo was used to get a bruise now and then during sparring, especially when he was sparring with Raph. No, his current condition was different. And no matter how sad Donnie was, he had to ask him what was wrong with the heating. It was freezing in here!

He skimmed through the letter once more and chuckled a bit. Did he really have to ask Mikey if he liked tea parties? Well, he would take care of that later. He had to write his reply first.

_Dear Madelyn, _

_I'm glad to hear you are back home. April has mentioned that the move went fine – although she complained a bit about her hurting back because she helped so much with carrying heavy boxes. But all in all I think she enjoyed it.  
I loved spending time with you too. I always enjoy spending time with you. You are some sort of a little sunshine for me, Madelyn. Seeing you or reading your letters always takes away a bit of the burden I have to carry as the leader of our team. And I thank you for that.  
I totally understand. Maybe you and April could meet more often. Aren't you her assistant? Shouldn't she take you with her on her photographer's walks? I bet you two will find a way to meet more often. And I think she wants to see you more often as well.  
Mrs. Sparkling Hair hasn't complained, so I guess she is doing fine. Well, she hasn't said anything that she likes or doesn't like my brother, so I don't know for sure. On the other hand, I guess with Mrs. Sparkling Hair you never know for sure. Am I right? And I am going to ask my brother if he likes tea parties. Maybe he could have one with Mrs. Sparkling Hair from time to time.  
She did a great job cheering me up when I was down. I really wish she could do the same for my other brother. He is really sad at the moment because one of his favorite toys got broken. You must know that he built it himself. And now he is sad because he can't repair it. I would ask Mrs. Sparkling Hair for help, but he doesn't like dolls very much, so I am a bit helpless here right now.  
I am sure that I could visit you more often now when my time allows it. And as promised, next time I'll bring the tea. Do you have a favorite tea, Madelyn?_

_ Yours,  
Mr. Turtle_

As he had done before with Madelyn's letter, Leo re-read his letter and re-re-read it, just to be sure. His head was aching even more now, and he wasn't sure how much longer he could take it. Maybe he should ask Donnie for some pain killers. But first, he had to bring his letter to April.

He put the letter into the well-known green envelope and sealed it, but when he got up he couldn't suppress a silent cry of pain. Why on earth did his whole body hurt now? Wasn't it bad enough that his head hurt? Did the rest of his body have to follow along?

He trudged over to the door and into the corridor, but he didn't get far. After a few steps out in the corridor, he needed to lean against the wall for support because it felt like the corridor was whirling around him.

He heard someone approaching and calling his name, but it sounded a bit muffled. He squeezed his eyes shut and opened them again in hopes that the blurry vision would fade, but it didn't. All he could see were two figures standing in front of him.

"Leo, you okay?" Donnie asked again, and he and Mikey shared a concerned look.

It took his oldest brother a while to answer, but when he finally managed, all he said was, "I'm fine." But the look on his face and the fact that he still needed the support of the wall to stand, gave the lie to his words.

"I don't think so," Donnie said and placed his hand on Leo's forehead. "You got a fever. And from your condition it could be the flu. You have to stay in bed."

It took Leo a few moments again until he answered, but then shook his head. "I can't," he mumbled. "I have to bring this letter to April."

"The letter can wait, Leo, your health can't," Donnie gave back and gently shoved his brother back into his room and with the help of Mikey even managed to tuck him into bed. Leo was so weak, his resistance was virtually absent.

"I'll get you some medicine, Leo," Donnie announced. "I'll be right back." And with that he left.

"But the letter," Leo mumbled weakly, lifting his hand holding the letter a bit.

Mikey watched this, and then he took the letter from Leo's hand.

"You know what, bro?" he said. "I'm gonna bring this letter to April for you, okay?"

He wasn't sure if Leo had really heard him, but it looked like the blue-masked turtle nodded slightly.

"Good." Mikey stroked Leo's forehead gently.

He marched over to the door, but when he passed the bookshelf and his eyes fell on Mrs. Sparkling Hair, he stopped abruptly. He took the doll and went back to Leo again, carefully placing the doll next to Leo's head.

"And while I'm gone," he said, "Mrs. Sparkling Hair is going to keep you company. And now be a good turtle and stay in bed, okay? I am gonna ask Mrs. Sparkling Hair later if you really did so, you know!" He wagged his finger at Leo, although he knew his brother couldn't see it because Leo's eyes were shut. "See you later, Leo!"

"Later, Mikey," was the scarcely audible response.

* * *

Later that evening April opened the window of her room to a knock on the glass.

"Oh, Mikey, it's you," she said to the turtle waiting outside on the fire escape. She was so used to seeing Leo out there that she was a bit surprised that this time it wasn't him.

"The one and only," Mikey said with a beam. He reached for the letter tucked under his belt and handed it to the teenage girl.

April frowned at it.

"It's a letter, April," Mikey clarified. "You know what a letter is, don't you? People write each other…"

"I know, Mikey!" the redhead interrupted him a bit angrily. "I am just surprised that you bring this letter to me. What happened to Leo? Is he okay?"

"Not at the moment," Mikey replied, shaking his head slightly. "He's feverish, Donnie thinks it could be the flu."

"Oh, that's terrible! Poor Leo!" April burst out. Although it would explain why Leo had retained his youngest brother to bring the letter to her. Under normal circumstances the blue-clad turtle would never let anyone else beside himself, April, and Madelyn touch his letters. But if he was feverish and thus out of his senses a bit, he wouldn't have thought twice about the fact that it was Mikey, the same Mikey that managed to lose a piece of advanced technology aka the Tpod during a fight, he had handed over his precious letter. But the letter had gotten to her safely. And it confirmed April's opinion that when Mikey thought something was important he really was able to concentrate on it. He had shown that more than one time, but Leo was rather picky when it came to his letters, so the fever was the only logical explanation to that.

"Tell Leo to get well soon, okay?" she said to Mikey.

The mutant turtle nodded. "Donnie watches over him, so I bet he's gonna be on the road to recovery in no time!"

"I guess you're right," April replied. "I was about to text him that…"

She was interrupted by the doorbell.

"Oh, I gotta get this," she said quickly and rushed out of the room. Mikey just waited on the fire escape.

Moments later he could hear a happy squeak which obviously wasn't coming from April, and then someone ran in his direction, someone with rather small feet.

"Is Mr. Turtle here?" a sweet little voice asked, and the next moment a little girl came running into April's room. But the moment she set eyes on Mikey, she stopped abruptly.

"You aren't Mr. Turtle," she said soundlessly.

Mikey rubbed the back of his head. "Well, I guess you could call me _a_ Mr. Turtle, but not _the_ Mr. Turtle – whoever that is, by the way."

April entered the room after the little girl which now as he eyed her over, Mikey recognized as the little girl Leo had been playing cards with in the living room of this apartment just a few days ago.

_So this must be Madelyn_, Mikey thought.

"Madelyn, this is Mr. Turtle's youngest brother," April said. She knew how the little girl liked to name people, so she thought she'd leave it to her if she wanted to know his real name or make up one for him.

A small smile appeared on her face when she realized that this naming-business was something she and Mikey had in common.

"Hi, I'm Mikey!" The mutant turtle waved at the little girl, giving her a big smile.

_So much for letting her pick a name_, April thought, but then shrugged mentally.

Madelyn just looked him over with serious eyes and furrowed brow.

"I am Madelyn," she finally introduced herself and walked a bit closer to him.

Mikey was still giving her his biggest smile.

"Can I call you Mr. Beam?" Madelyn asked, still frowningly.

"Sure!" Mikey said. "That's actually a cool name, don't you think? Well then, Madelyn, I am Mr. Beam!" And with that he held out his hand.

Madelyn's serious face suddenly turned into a smiling one as she shook his hand.

"Do you like tea parties, Mr. Beam?"

"Are you kidding me?" Mikey asked. "I love tea parties!"

"Want to have a tea party with me, April, and Ruffles McBearington?"

"Of course!"

And with that he let Madelyn trail him into the living room. When he passed April he gave her a questioning look.

"Your aunt?" he asked quickly.

"Out for dinner."

"Ruffles McBearington?"

"You're going to find out."

Mikey just nodded. April watched the two leaving her room, then shook her head with a silent chuckle before she followed them.

* * *

Leo was tossing and turning in his bed, shaken by feverish dreams that didn't make any sense at all. He dreamed about fire and falling and darkness, but after what seemed like an eternity his dreams suddenly turned into something completely different. All of a sudden he was in a park. It was a beautiful day, sunny and warm. And there in the middle of a green meadow they were waiting for him – April, Mikey, and Madelyn, sitting on one of these stereotyped red and white checked picnic blankets. Madelyn waved at him, Leo waved back and went over to them. He sat down next to Madelyn, and the little girl handed him a cup of tea with a smile. Leo returned her smile. And when he took the first sip of his tea, he thought his world couldn't be any better.

When Donnie entered Leo's room later to check on his brother he found him smiling in sleep, holding Madelyn's doll in his arms.

Despite all Donnie had been going through lately by losing Metalhead, his sadness seemed to be gone for a moment and he couldn't help, but smile.


	20. Recovery

_Time to answer some questions. ;) _

_Yes, Madelyn did show up in the latest episode. For proof of that either re-watch the episode (Madelyn is the crying child in the park when the giant rats attack and she is in one of the cages in Rat King's lair) or visit my tumblr. dgLari was so kind to submit a screenshot there (Thanks, dgLari! *hugsyou*). Type in "my mr turtle" in "Search" and you should find it rather easily. There's a link to my tumblr on my profile here on FanFiction._

_As for Mikey's new nickname, Dragonblooded asked if Madelyn calls him Mr. Beam because he beams all the time, or because he is like a beam of sunshine. To be honest, it's a bit of both. Plus, the name is a little reference to Mr. Bean who always makes me laugh, just like Mikey does very often. ;)_

_Oh, and premiere! This is the very first chapter without any changes of location. Although this means Madelyn herself doesn't show up in it. Apologies for that…_

* * *

**Chapter 20: Recovery**

Leo was sitting on his bed, wrapped into his blanket, his laptop on his knees, tapping away on the keyboard. He was neither wearing his mask nor any of his pads or the tape around his fingers. It was one of the good things of being sick that he didn't have to gear up every morning, but now that he was feeling better, he somehow missed it. A bit at least. But sensei insisted that he stayed in bed and didn't attend any training sessions before Donnie said it was okay. And from what Donnie had told him this morning, he was far from giving his okay.

Leo paused for a moment and looked over to his bedside table where his mask was lying around. Well, he could at least _show_ that he was feeling fitter again by wearing his mask. With a determined nod he took the mask and put it on.

While he was doing so, he accidentally bumped his elbow against Mrs. Sparkling Hair, and the doll pitched forward.

When Leo realized that he gently put it back into a seating position. He was still wondering why Mikey had insisted that Madelyn's doll stayed close to him while he was feeling unwell, but with Mikey, too much wondering never was a good idea. So Leo had finally given in, partly because of his weak condition. And now that he thought of it, whenever he set eyes on Madelyn's doll he really did feel a bit better. He gently stroked the doll's head before he turned to his laptop again.

But that didn't last long because minutes later there was a knock at the door and without awaiting Leo's answer Mikey popped his head in.

"Hey there, Leo!" he said cheerfully.

"Mikey, how often do I have to tell you, you should knock?!" Leo gave back angrily.

"But I did knock," Mikey clarified.

"You have to wait for me to ask you in!"

"You didn't say that. You keep telling me I have to knock, and that's what I did," Mikey clarified. "If you want me to wait for your answer, you have to say it that way: _Mikey, don't forget to knock and wait for me to ask you in before you come in!_"

Leo sighed. "Mikey, don't forget to knock and wait for me to ask you in before you come in," he said soundlessly.

"Now you got it!" Mikey grinned at him and sat down at the edge of Leo's bed. "And will do!" He winked at Leo with a beam.

"So how are you feeling, Leo?" Mikey finally asked. "You look a lot better than last time I checked on you."

"I really do feel a lot better."

"Good, good." Mikey nodded. "You know now that I've spent some time with Madelyn, I can totally understand why you didn't want to share her with anyone. She's such a cute little darling."

Mikey had already mentioned before that he and Madelyn had had a tea party when he had brought Leo's letter to April and Madelyn had showed up. It had turned out that Mr. Dearing had had an important meeting with the other renters in their building that had been set up on short notice after they all had moved back in. And he had asked April to look after Madelyn to which the teenage girl had immediately said yes.

Leo still wasn't sure what he should be thinking of this. For such a long time now, Madelyn had been his little secret, his haven, and now he somehow had to share her with his youngest brother. At least Mikey – despite saying that it had been a lot of fun – hadn't said anything about repeating this anytime soon. So Leo still had time to sort his feelings out. And he was totally going to do this once he had totally recovered. He still was surprised that it didn't bother him more that Mikey and Madelyn had had a tea party together. Maybe because he knew his brother didn't mean to screw himself in between Leo and Madelyn. And maybe because Leo knew that Madelyn must have had a good time.

A little frown appeared on Leo's face, and when Mikey realized that, he thought it was about time to tease his brother a bit and thus get his thoughts elsewhere.

"Leo, I have a very important question", he said with a broad grin.

"Yes?"

"Can I still call you Leo or do I have to call you Mr. Turtle now?"

Leo mentally shook his head. So his brother had really waited until he was feeling better to bring this up?

"Very funny," he gave back.

The grin on Mikey's face turned even broader now. "I know."

"Do you make fun of Raph as well?"

"Sure. Whenever I have the time."

"I mean about his nickname."

"What nickname?"

"Madelyn calls him Mr. Red."

"No way!" Mikey jumped to his feet. "Gotta go!"

And with that he darted out of Leo's room.

Leo slightly shook his head with an amused look on his face, but the moment he wanted to turn back to his laptop again, the well-known face of a certain teenage girl appeared in the doorframe.

"Hello, Leo!" April said. "May I come in?"

"April!" Leo burst out. "Sure!"

And with that April entered his room, went over to his bed and sat down on the edge.

The redhead fetched a pink envelope from her messenger bag and handed it to Leo. The mutant turtle took it with a smile and placed the letter on his laptop.

"How are you feeling?" April asked. "Better, I guess?"

Leo nodded. "But how do you know?" he asked. "You haven't seen me the last days."

"That was because Donnie wouldn't let me anywhere near your room until he was one-hundred percent sure you weren't contagious anymore. And that's why I thought you must be feeling better now – because Donnie let me visit you."

Leo chuckled. "That's so Donnie. A bit overprotective, huh?"

April grinned. "A bit?"

"Okay, a _lot_."

"You sure?"

"One-hundred percent!

"Not one-thousand percent?"

"According to Donnie, more than one-hundred percent aren't possible."

"You sure?"

"One-thousand percent," Leo gave back with a grin.

Then they both looked at each other for a moment, and suddenly burst into laughter.

When they had calmed down a bit, Leo said, "I am just glad Donnie had something else to do than think about what has happened to Metalhead." He turned serious again. "How's he doing?"

"Good, I guess," April replied. "We all try our best to keep him busy, and I think you have contributed the most by getting sick. He was too busy to mix your medicine than think about Metalhead."

"At least, this flu was good for something," Leo gave back with a nod. "But could you try to put in a good word for me? I'm sick of staying in bed. I'm better now. I could at least get up and do something other than staying in bed."

"You're sick of being sick?" April asked with a grin.

Leo grinned back. "Yeah, you could put it that way."

"I see what I can do," April gave back and got up. "But you know how he is. If Dr. Donnie doesn't think, you've recovered enough to get out of bed, you're most certainly doomed to stay in here."

Leo let out a playful sigh. "I'm afraid I am." He took the pink envelope in his hand and held it up so April could see it. "But thankfully I got something to do now."

April just waved at him and then left his room.

With a smile Leo yanked the letter open and started reading.

_Dear Mr. Turtle,_

_My hands did hurt a bit too after putting all my toys and books and dresses back in, but the move still was fun. And I enjoyed it. Maybe it's the same for April.  
You are so welcome, Mr. Turtle! Spending time with you is so much fun, you really don't have to thank me for that.  
Yes, I am April's assistant, and we are going to have another photographer's walk this weekend. I can't wait! I talked to her and to Daddy, and they both are fine with April and me meeting more often. I am so happy about this!  
I've met your brother, Mr. Beam. And he and me and Ruffles McBearington were having a tea party, and we talked about Mrs. Sparkling Hair as well. And he really seems to like her. Mr. Beam is a funny turtle. I really enjoyed spending time with him.  
He told me you are sick and that he was filling in for you. Are you better now? Please get well soon! To make you feel better I drew a picture of you in your superheroes-outfit. I hope you like it.  
What about your other brother? Is he feeling better? I know how hard it is when one's favorite toy gets broken. Could you please tell him I am sorry?  
And how is Mr. Red doing?  
When you've recovered, are you going to visit me again? And yes, I do have a favorite tea. I love apple tea! What's your favorite tea, Mr. Turtle?_

_Yours,  
Madelyn_

_Mr. Beam?_ When Leo read this, he couldn't help, but grin broadly. Now this was priceless!

He then unfolded Madelyn's drawing and looked at it. It showed him, wearing his blue mask, but instead of his pads and belt, he was wearing a light blue jumpsuit, dark blue boots and gloves, and a white belt. He even had a cape in dark blue. He smiled at the picture. Now this was going to get a special place on his wall. He chuckled at the thought that maybe sooner or later his whole room would be papered with Madelyn's drawings. Not that he cared. Not at all! Actually, he thought that must look really nice. And he forcefully pushed the thought away, of what his brothers would make of this.

He carefully placed Madelyn's drawing and her letter on his bedside table and then took his letter paper out from the drawer.

_Dear Madelyn,_

_I guess so too. I think April's complaints about her aching back were meant to be a joke.  
Madelyn, you are the sweetest little darling a turtle can have for a friend. Do you even know that?  
I can't wait to see April's photographs after your walk. I bet they are going to be beautiful. April is such a great photographer.  
Mr. Beam told me that he really enjoyed spending time with you as well. And yes, I think too that he likes Mrs. Sparkling Hair. So I guess he was a good stand-in?  
Yes, I am feeling a lot better now, partly thanks to Mrs. Sparkling Hair who stayed with me all this time. As you said before, she is a good cheerer. And I love your picture. It is so awesome!  
My other brother is doing better now. He was so busy taking care of me and mixing my medicine, he didn't have any time to think about his broken toy. But I am going to tell him that you understand him and are sorry for him next time I see him, I promise.  
Mr. Red is doing great. I told you that he found a new friend, and the two of them are spending a lot of time together. It made him forget about Mr. Bad Guy, and I think he is back to normal now.  
Then I am going to bring apple tea on my next visit. I like apple tea too, but my favorite is green tea._

_Yours,  
Mr. Turtle_

When Leo had finished the letter and put it into the envelope, he could hear stomping footsteps in the corridor, and when the owner of these stomping feet passed the still open door Leo's room, he was affirmed that it really was Raph on the way to his own room.

"Leave me alone, Mikey!" the red-masked turtle called out.

"But I only wanted to know if Madelyn calls you Mr. Red because of your mask or because of this 'Roses are red'-poem!" Mikey who followed his brother suit gave back. "Please tell me, Raph! Tell meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

All he got in response was a grunt and a slammed door, and judging by Mikey's sudden outcry of pain, right into his face.

Leo chuckled. Sure, he was never going to hear the end of this once Raph thought he had recovered enough to be yelled at and teased again, but for now this just was funny.


	21. Of Madelyn and Mr Turtle

_Okay, answering-time again. ;)_

_Yes, Donnie is going to get a nickname, of course. Not one-hundred percent sure what it's going to be yet, so please, patience here, okay? ;) But thanks a lot for all the suggestions! *hugsyouall*_

_thegirlwholived asked if Madelyn is going to go to the lair at some point. To be honest, I'm not sure about that yet. Not in the near future, I guess. We'll see. But of course, she is going to meet Donnie. Poor Donnie, being the only turtle that hasn't met Madelyn yet. :( We don't want him to feel left out, right? ;)_

_Aaaaaaand as promised, here's the chapter taking place immediately after "Of Rats and Men". I hope you like it! ^^_

* * *

**Chapter 21: Of Madelyn and Mr. Turtle**

There was one thing Leo had completely forgotten about recovering. When you were a ninja turtle, you very often didn't have the chance to recover one-hundred percent. Sometimes ninety-five percent had to be enough, sometimes even less. And so your last thoughts before you flung yourself into battle, usually were that you truly hoped to have recovered enough to get out of there in once piece.

It had been like this when the Rat King had attacked. Leo wasn't back to his old form. Sure, he was feeling better, a lot better, and he had resumed his training, but he still wasn't back in as good a form as he had been before the flu had wrestled him down. But it had to be enough! It _had to_!

His brothers still had tried to make it a bit safer for him by letting him drive the Shellraiser and not the patrol buggy. He had been a bit annoyed by this at first. Of course he had understood that they had needed back-up, but the fact that all of them had been in the buggy except for him, still had fretted him a bit. But he had given in nonetheless. And April's excitement to join them on a real mission – although it had been well-hidden under her fear for Casey, but it had been visible to Leo –, had made it a bit more bearable. And he had even managed to smile at April when he had jovially put his helmet on her head. The teenage girl had been surprised at first, but then smiled back at him. She hadn't thanked him with words, but who needed words when they understood each other without them just as well?

And the moment Leo had been seated in the Shellraiser's driver's seat, all his thoughts had been claimed by their mission of defeating the Rat King.

But this whole "concentrating on the mission"-thing had been put on an acid test, once he had realized who had been there in one of the cages.

It still gave his heart a twinge when he remembered the little face between the bars – Madelyn.

His first impulse had been to just rush over there and get her out of this dreadful cage, but luckily, his prudence had kicked back in just in time. There had been other humans there, humans that better didn't know he and his brothers existed. And this thought had been even more confirmed when he had spotted Madelyn's father in one of the other cages.

During their mission he had been able to fight back his thoughts about Madelyn's well-being, but when they had succeeded and April, Casey, and this other friend of April – he thought her name was Irma – had gotten everyone to safety, when they had heard sensei was okay, when they had left Rat King's lair for good, in this exact moment when all this pressure had given away, all he had been able to think about was Madelyn.

And he was still thinking about her, now that he was rushing to her over the rooftops.

_Hang on, Madelyn, I'm on my way!_

* * *

Madelyn Dearing was lying in her bed, curled up and completely covered by her blanket and thus shutting the world away. It gave her a feeling of safety. Her eyes were wide open, her brow furrowed, and her lips pressed into a thin line. She was feeling sad and scared at the same time, and she would have cried if there had been any tears left in her eyes. But she had been crying so much this day, her tears seemed to have dried up, at least for now.

She had been crying back at the park when these rat-monsters had attacked, pressing Daisy to her chest, trying to hold on to her doll, but when one of the rats had grabbed her, she had screamed for help, for her father, for Mr. Turtle. Her father had been with her at the park, and she had seen him running up to her to help her, but before he had been able to reach her, another rat-monster had gotten hold of him and had dragged him away. All that had happened afterwards, the little girl was unable to remember. It was all dark in her memory. The next thing she knew was being in this cage together with other people. She had looked out for her father and had found him in another cage. It was the moment when she had decided to be brave, to be strong. She had decided not to cry.

She had seen a glimpse of green and blue, and this somehow had given her hope. She had been sure Mr. Turtle had been there to save her. And this had encouraged her even more not to cry.

And when chaos had broken out and they had been released from their cage, all she had done was running and running and running, until she was sure she was safe. She had then been lifted up by her father and carried home. And it had been this moment, when she had buried her face in his chest, when she had drunken in his unique Daddy-scent, that she had allowed herself to cry. And she had been crying all their way home and longer after they had arrived at their apartment. Her father had just held her in his arms, stroking her head from time to time and whispering gentle words until she had finally calmed down.

She had then gotten ready for the night. Her father had watched her every move. He had only sat down for one little moment on the couch, but it had been enough for him to fall asleep. Madelyn had tugged on his arm, but her father was so fast asleep, he hadn't even seemed to notice. So Madelyn had gone to bed and ended up hiding under her blanket.

And yes, it did make her feel a little bit safer, but it didn't help with the loneliness. So she lifted the blanket a bit and peeked at her stuffed animals. With a quick move she threw the blanket back, rushed over to her stuffed animals, grabbed Ruffles McBearington, and dashed back into her bed and under her blanket again.

She pressed the teddy bear to her chest. Yes, this was better now. But it still wasn't good.

The little girl let out a sigh.

But then she jumped at the silent knock on her window. She nearly screamed, but the voice she heard then let the scream die down in her throat.

"Madelyn?" an all too familiar voice asked gently. "Are you in there? Are you okay?"

"Mr. Turtle!" Madelyn burst out, not caring about her sleeping father, and threw back the blanket again. She ran over to the window, Ruffles McBearington in one hand, and opened it to her Mr. Turtle.

Leo waited for a moment, listening closely if he could hear any movement from Madelyn's father, but all he could perceive was silent snoring. He let out a sigh of relief, and smiled down at Madelyn as he climbed inside.

His feet had just touched the floor when Madelyn flung her arms around his legs, her teddy bear which she was still holding by the paw, dangling from her one hand.

"Oh, Madelyn," Leo said gently and carefully lifted the little girl up, holding her tight, as she pressed her face against his plastron. He slowly sat down on the floor, stroking Madelyn's head while doing so. "You were afraid, weren't you?"

Madelyn nodded.

"I'm so sorry, Madelyn!"

"Don't have to be," Madelyn gave back, her voice muffled by his plastron. "You saved us."

"You saw me?" Leo asked a bit surprised.

Madelyn nodded against his plastron. "Only briefly, but I knew it was you."

"Did anyone else see me?"

Madelyn shook her head.

"Okay."

Leo kept stroking Madelyn's head. Her little body was so tensed and she was shivering slightly. It broke his heart to see her like this, and he wished there was more he could do to make her feel better than just sit there and hold her, but there was nothing else he could think of right now.

And he mentally sighed in relief when he finally felt the tension in her body fade away.

Then Madelyn sat up a bit. She lifted her hand which still was holding Ruffles McBearingon and pulled the teddy bear closer, wrapping her one arm around his plushy form. She didn't look at Leo. She somehow seemed to be shy now – or maybe just a bit insecure and tried to hide it. So she started running her finger over his plastron, just doing something, so she could avoid his eyes.

"Better?" Leo asked.

Madelyn nodded, now carefully tapping on his plastron.

"Mr. Turtle," she then said, her voice barely a whisper. "I lost Daisy."

Leo frowned at her words. Daisy? Who was Daisy? He wracked his brain if he had ever heard this name before, but had to give up after a few moments.

"I'm sorry to hear that," he finally said. "But could you help me a little bit? I'm afraid I don't know who Daisy is. I'm sorry, Madelyn."

Madelyn kept tapping on his plastron and again didn't look up. "Daisy is one of my favorite dolls," she explained. "She has this beautiful lilac dress and the awesome lilac hat. And she loves the swing in the park so much, so I took her with me when Daddy and I went to the park today. But I lost sight of her when the…monsters attacked. And when I was in the cage, I realized she was gone."

"I'm so sorry, Madelyn!"

Madelyn was still busy examining his plastron. She only whispered, "I thought it would make her happy to be at the park."

Leo couldn't help, but flung his arms around Madelyn and pulling her into a tight hug. Seeing her sad face had made his heart ache and he wished he could help the little darling. But all he could do now was hug her. And that he did.

He held her in his arms until she finally fell asleep. He then tucked her in, placing her teddy bear in her arms, stroking her little head and listening to her regular breathing for a few moments before he climbed outside.

When he was on the fire escape he realized it wasn't as late as he had thought. It still was dark.

He knew it was a slim chance but maybe he could find this doll Madelyn had been talking about. He thought he knew which park she had been talking about. There weren't so many parks around here, so he could at least give it a try. It would make Madelyn feel better if she got her doll back. And he would do or try anything to make her feel better.

* * *

Moments later he was rummaging the park. To call this place a mess was an understatement. There was debris everywhere, and garbage from a dumpster the giant rats must have knocked over was scattered all over the place. But Leo didn't care. He had a mission.

He had mentally divided the place into sectors and combed each of them for Madelyn's doll. So far he hadn't been successful. No sign of Daisy, the doll.

He noticed that it was nearly dawn, he knew he should leave now, but he couldn't.

_Just this last sector, please!_, he thought.

With a grim look he was digging through a pile of debris. But when his hand touched something soft, he froze for a moment – only to dig even faster when light fell on something that looked like lilac fabric. And his face turned into a beam when moments later he held a doll in his hand – a doll in a lilac dress and a lilac hat. This had to be Daisy.

Sure, the doll was a bit banged up. There were stains all over her and she sure didn't smell too good. But Leo didn't care. He had found Madelyn's doll! He quickly put the doll under his arm and climbed a fire escape up to the roof.

* * *

When Madelyn woke up the next morning, she rubbed her eyes and looked around her room. She knew Mr. Turtle wouldn't still be there. He always disappeared before it got light. This was a superhero-thing. He had to do this. And it already was broad daylight. But the little girl needed to check anyway. And yes, the mutant turtle was gone, but her eyes widened in surprise and joy when she found someone else was there.

"Daisy!" she called out as she set eyes on the doll sitting on her window bench. She placed Ruffles McBearington on her pillow, ran over to the window and clasped the doll in her arms.

"Oh, I am so sorry, Daisy! I didn't mean to leave you behind!" she said and snuggled her face into the doll. The stains and smell didn't seem to annoy her. Actually, she couldn't care less. It was Daisy! She was back!

Tears of relief welled in Madelyn's eyes. "Thank you, Mr. Turtle," she whispered. "Thank you for saving me, Daddy, and Daisy."


	22. April's Promise

_Okay, let's answer some questions. ;)_

_Moth165 asked if Madelyn is going to meet Splinter anytime soon. I'm afraid, not. I plan on her visiting the lair one day – and thus meet Splinter –, but I'm not sure when this is going to happen yet. But it's one my list of ideas, I promise. :)_

_Isli asked if Mr. Dearing is going to find out about Leo. Yes, he is, but not too soon. I like the idea that April has to come up with some more "explanations" to cover Leo. ;)_

_That's it, on with the story. :)_

* * *

**Chapter 22: April's Promise**

With a frown April looked down at Madelyn. Mr. Dearing had asked the teenage girl to pick his daughter up from school due to the fact he had to work long hours today again. Plus, he thought seeing April might cheer his little darling up a little bit. Ever since the incident with the Rat King, Madelyn was a bit down. At least the children at school and her teacher knew now that Madelyn was telling the truth. They had all seen the news about these giant rats.

Mr. Dearing had thought of taking Madelyn out from school until she was back to her old cheerful self, but Madelyn's teacher Mrs. Stenson had advised against it. She had told Mr. Dearing that it would be best to keep a normal daily routine, so Mr. Dearing had stuck to it.

And except from being sad, Madelyn was doing a great job. She was focused during classes, and only from time to time her sadness got the best of her. And the other children left her alone then, even Marcus. He had tried at first to cheer her up, but realizing that it wouldn't work he had decided to leave Madelyn alone until she got to him again. And when the sadness-phase was over, Madelyn was nearly as cheerful as she had been before being dragged away by a monster-rat some days ago.

April was sure Madelyn was going to recover soon, she just needed her time.

She smiled at the little girl and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. Madelyn lifted her head and smiled back at her weakly.

Well, that was a start. But the frown on April's face grew deeper as her eyes fell on the doll Madelyn had been carrying around the past few days. It was the one she called Daisy and which she had lost in the park. April knew that Leo had gotten the doll back for his little friend, but Daisy really had seen better days. She was still very filthy and smelled nastily. But having this doll close seemed to give Madelyn security. And she had told her father that she would never leave Daisy behind again. On the one hand she was afraid of losing Daisy again and on the other hand knowing that Mr. Turtle had gotten her doll back reminded her of him and made her feel better. And that was the reason why Mr. Dearing didn't have the heart to snatch the doll from Madelyn to wash it.

But April had to confess that Daisy had somehow become an odor nuisance. She even had noticed how some of Madelyn's classmates had wrinkled their noses when Madelyn had passed them with Daisy in her arms. So April had decided it was about time to do something about it.

"Is Daisy alright?" April asked. "She looks a bit tired."

Madelyn looked at her doll, then at April. "She is a bit tired," she said. "But she can't sleep at night. She is too afraid she might get lost again: Although I promised her I would never lose her ever again."

"I think she knows that," April gave back. "And if you assure her every day that you are going to be there for her, I am sure her fear will disappear one day."

"Are you sure?"

April nodded. "Of course! And maybe I know something that would help her sleep."

"You do?" Madelyn's eyes widened in surprise. "What is it?"

"A relaxing bubble bath," April replied. "Think we should give it a try?"

Madelyn nodded in response.

* * *

"And that's it," April said as she rubbed the last stain out of Daisy's doll-hand.

She and Madelyn had filled the sink in the bathroom with warm water and washing powder so it could work as the doll's bathtub. Then April had cleaned the doll while Madelyn was watching closely, and now that the doll seemed to be as clean as possible April let the dirty water drain and washed out the rag doll with clean water. She then wrung it out a bit and handed Daisy over to Madelyn.

"Hope she liked the relaxing massage at the end," April explained with a smile.

Madelyn just nodded as she wrapped Daisy into a towel.

"And now let's find her a nice and sunny spot on the window bench where she can dry, okay?" April declared.

Madelyn just nodded again and then April and her left the bathroom in the direction of Madelyn's room.

Some time had passed – Daisy was still seated on the window bench and Madelyn and April were playing Go Fish on the floor – as the door to the apartment was unlocked and seconds later Mr. Dearing popped his head into Madelyn's room.

The moment his little daughter had set eyes on him she jumped to her feet, ran over to him and flung her arms around her father. Mr. Dearing gently patted her head and greeted April who now got to her feet as well with a smile.

"We made a relaxing bubble bath for Daisy," Madelyn explained as she let go of her father, "so that she can sleep again."

"That's nice," Mr. Dearing commented. But then he turned to April again.

"April, do you have a moment?" he asked. "I need to speak to you."

The teenage girl replied with a nod.

"Why don't you draw a picture in the meantime?" Mr. Dearing suggested to his daughter.

"Or I write my response to Mr. Turtle's letter," Madelyn gave back.

"An even better idea!" Mr. Dearing agreed with his daughter.

And while Madelyn grabbed her pink letter paper and her pen, April and Mr. Dearing left the room.

Mr. Dearing guided April into the kitchen, and then they were standing there, Mr. Dearing obviously fumbling for words.

"I…I…wanted to thank you, April," he finally managed to say.

"What for?" April asked in surprise.

"Are you kidding me?" Mr. Dearing burst out. "You have saved me and my daughter and all these other people from this hideous rat-freak."

"Oh, that," April mumbled.

"_That_?" Mr. Dearing raised a brow. "You make it sound like it was nothing. I mean, you snuck in there and risked your life and saved us. This is a lot, April, _a lot_!"

_Well, it is a lot less if you have four ninja turtles and their rat master who do most of the work_, April thought, but she knew she couldn't tell Mr. Dearing that.

"I mean you could have gotten hurt – or worse," the man said. "Why didn't you wait for the police?"

"There was no time for that," April explained. "All these people were dragged away by those monsters, and I somehow just reacted. And it worked."

"It sure did," Mr. Dearing confirmed. "But still, you could have gotten hurt."

April frowned at him. Wasn't he supposed to thank her? What with that lecture all of a sudden? Sure, for someone who didn't know anything about the turtles for someone who didn't even know they had been there, it must have looked like she had decided to face a dangerous villain all by herself.

"You were lucky that this chaos broke out and gave you cover."

April mentally sighed. She wished she could tell him that this chaos had been part of their plan, that she would never be so stupid to go after a villain all alone without any backup, but right now, she had to go with the "being stupid"-thing.

"I mean, had you thought about what this rat-freak could have done to you?"

April lowered her eyes and shook her head slightly.

"It was the stupidest thing you could have done." Mr. Dearing took a deep breath. "And the bravest thing I've ever seen."

And before April really knew what was going on, he had pulled her into a hug. April's eyes widened, but then she moved her arms and hugged him back. Aside from Master Splinter Mr. Dearing was the closest to a father figure there was right now in her life. And she simply had forgotten what it was like to be hugged by a father, a fully human one, and she was enjoying it. She couldn't resist, but smile when she realized even Mr. Dearing's scent resembled the one she remembered from her father a bit. For a moment an image of her father's recent mutant form appeared in her head, but she fought it back. She wouldn't let it ruin this moment.

"Thanks for saving us," Mr. Dearing said before he let go of her.

"You're welcome," April gave back with a warm smile.

"I remember Madelyn once showed me a pic she had drawn of you as some sort of a superhero," Mr. Dearing said. "And I guess she was right. You are a hero, April."

"Thank you, Mr. Dearing." The teenage girl blushed a little.

"Only telling the truth."

At that moment Madelyn called out for April from her room.

"April, I don't know how to write this word!"

"Coming, Madelyn!" April called back. She smiled at Mr. Dearing once more before she left the kitchen.

* * *

That evening April was waiting for Leo again – as always she was sitting on the window bench of her open window. And as always she knew he was there long before he appeared on the fire escape. She knew she should be used to this by now, but she still was surprised how much her kunoichi-skills had improved.

"Hey there, April!" Leo greeted his human friend.

"Hey there, Leo!" was the response as April reached for Madelyn's letter and handed it to him.

The mutant turtle looked at the letter for a moment before he tucked it under his belt.

"How is Madelyn doing?" he asked.

"Better, I guess," April answered. "She's nearly back to her old cheerful self. But she keeps clinging to her doll Daisy. At least I managed to wash it today, so that no-one will complain about its smell."

"Yeah, sorry, I didn't have time for that." Leo rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Sorry?" April looked at him with a surprise look on her face. "You dug through debris and garbage to find this doll and that very close to sunrise and you say you're _sorry_?"

"Well, I could have washed it…"

April placed a finger on Leo's mouth and thus shushed him.

"Don't!" she said strictly. "You risked being spotted just to find this doll, so you sure don't have to apologize."

She removed her finger again, but the moment she did that, Leo said, "But…" So she quickly put her finger back on his lips.

"No buts, Leo!" she said again. "Understood?"

Leo just nodded.

"Good." With a smile April removed her finger again.

Leo took a deep breath. "You think she is going to be alright?"

"Sure," April assured him. "She knows Mr. Turtle would never let her down. And neither would I. And her father thinks now that I am some sort of a superhero. He even thanked me for saving him and Madelyn."

The mutant turtle raised a brow.

"Well, he and the others didn't see you, so he thinks I rescued them all by myself," April explained.

"I see."

"It's just unfair, given the fact what you and the others did back there, so I feel a bit like a cheater and…"

This time it was Leo who shushed her by putting a finger on her lips.

"Don't!" he said, his voice just as strict as April's had been a few moments ago. "You did a great job back there! Don't feel like a cheater. You deserve to get some credit."

He removed his finger again.

"But you and the others did so much more! You deserve credit as well!" April objected. "All I did was…"

She was shushed again by Leo. "All you did was risking your life to save others. And I think that's more than enough to deserve some credit. Understood?"

April nodded. Leo's finger was still pressed against her lips, but when he saw her nod he removed it with a smile.

April turned her head away from him and hugged her knees.

"It's just not fair you and the others won't get _any_ credit _ever_," she mumbled.

Leo placed a hand on April's shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

"April, my brothers and I are supposed to stay in the shadows. We don't do it for the credit, you know."

"I know. But you still deserve it."

Leo just smiled at her, then climbed up to the rooftop and disappeared into the night.

April watched him leave. And at that moment she made a promise. If there was something she could do that the brothers one day would get credit for what they had done to save this city, this planet, she would do it.

_I promise, Leo, I promise._


	23. Touching the Horizon

_Thanks again for your support! You have no idea how much this means to me. Really. Reading your reviews or getting the message that someone has added this story to his favorites always cheers me up. :)_

_Speaking of reviews, here are my comments to them:_

_Some of you suggested April should become a reporter. I am not sure about that yet. I like her as a hobby photographer, but I just can't see this April as a reporter like she has been in the first cartoon. I'd rather see her doing this reporter-stuff in secret by setting up a homepage or a blog where she can tell people what really is going on in the city. But I'm not sure if I like her to be a reporter in her bread-and-butter job. _

_Someone asked if Casey and Madelyn are going to meet and if Casey's nickname would be "Mr. Might Duck". I know the "Might Duck"-nickname was just a reference to the other fandom I really like – The Mighty Ducks (I'm talking about the animated series here). We could call Casey "Nosedive". XD Just kidding. Madelyn doesn't have nicknames for her human friends, only for her not-so-imaginary friends. April doesn't have a nickname, you know. _

_As for Madelyn and Casey meeting, yes, this is definitely going to happen. _

_thegirlwholived, I can assure you, Madelyn and Donnie are going to meet. But I don't think they would talk about dates then._

_Cocoaflower__ asked, if the second last sentence of the last chapter was a reference to SAINW from the cartoon of 2003. No, it wasn't. Actually, I was referring to the fact that the brothers have saved the city several times already and the planet after the Kraang's invasion._

_Geez, that got pretty long. Sorry. -.- Enough of this now. On with the story!_

_Oh, I almost forgot: This chapter takes place between "Of Rats and Men" and "The Manhattan Project"._

* * *

**Chapter 23: Touching the Horizon**

April was standing on the rooftop of Madelyn's apartment building and looking around. As always when she was on one of her photographer's walks, her camera was dangling around her neck.

She sighed. Whoever had come up with the idea to make the theme of this month's Theme Challenge on the photographer's board she was member of, "horizon" better not met her anytime soon in person. She had made like fifteen different horizon-photographs so far, and nothing looked quite right. She even had thought of dropping out of this month's competition, but two reasons had made her decide against it. The first one was that she had finished last month's competition second place which really was not so bad if you kept in mind that she had just started to have interest in photographing. So now her fans – yes, she really had fans on that board – were eagerly waiting for her contribution this month. And she didn't want to disappoint them. And second, Madelyn enjoyed helping her as her assistant and muse so much that she just didn't have the heart to tell her that there wouldn't be a photographer's walk for this month's competition.

April had realized that Madelyn was doing a bit better now. She even had managed to persuade the little girl to leave Daisy behind in the apartment, so that the doll could 'take a little nap', how April had put it. And Madelyn had agreed. This was the first obvious sign that she was feeling better.

But she still needed some cheering up. She was still a bit nervous and anxious after the whole Rat King-incident. And helping April somehow boosted her self-esteem, made her more secure. And if that meant April had to take some more not so great looking photographs, the teenage girl would accept it.

"What about this, April?" Madelyn asked and pointed into the direction of the setting sun.

April quickly turned around, first to check if Madelyn really was staying away from the roof edge as April had hammered into her before they had come up here. And when she realized Madelyn had been paying attention and she really was staying away from the roof edge, she looked into the direction Madelyn was pointing at. And she was simply stunned.

With the setting sun behind her, Madelyn wasn't much more as a shadow, a dark figure against the red and orange light.

April smiled as an idea for a photograph formed in her head.

"Madelyn, you just gave me an awesome idea!" she said. "I really don't know what I would do without you."

Madelyn just smiled in response.

"Okay, could you please turn so that you're facing the setting sun?" Madelyn nodded and did as she was told. "And now spread your arms. Perfect!"

April knelt down and made sure that Madelyn's arms were on the same level as some of the buildings of New York's skyline and thus formed some sort of a line, a horizon. Madelyn's form against the setting sun, a small dark shadow against the last light of a passing day – it was just perfect.

Last light of a passing day? April pondered. Maybe that would even work as a title. Or maybe just "Passing Day". Okayokay, she could think about that later, she told herself as she released the shutter.

She then looked at the photograph on the display, really pleased with the result. She beckoned Madelyn towards her and showed her the photograph.

The little girl just gasped.

April mentally patted her shoulder. Now that had worked pretty well. Madelyn seemed so much happier now, so much more like the little darling she was used to be. But April couldn't help, but wonder, if this had all been about making Madelyn feel better, why she herself just couldn't stop smiling.

* * *

_Dear Mr. Turtle,_

_Thank you so much for saving Daisy! When I found her on the window sill I immediately knew you brought her there. And Daisy thanks you too for her rescue.  
She is having a rough time right now. She is afraid I lose her again, so she can't sleep well. I talked to April and we made a relaxing bubble bath for Daisy. It worked. She could sleep and she is better now, but still not good. April said I should tell Daisy that I would never leave her again. I did, and I agree with April that Daisy knows that I will never do this, but Daisy is still afraid. Do you know what to do?  
April and I are going for some photographer's walk this week. I can't wait! Did you know she finished the last competition on this photographer's board second place? I think she was really proud when she told me about it. And it was one of the pictures I helped her with that made second place, so I was a bit proud myself.  
Mr. Beam was a great stand-in. He is funny and cheerful, and he really likes tea parties. Maybe he, April, you, and me can have a tea party together soon. What about Mr. Red? Do you think he would like to join us too? And what about your other brother? I bet it would cheer him up if he's still sad about his favorite toy got broken. We can have apple tea and green tea on our next tea party. What do you think?  
Can I ask you for a favor, Mr. Turtle? I still want to learn how to defend myself and how to protect Daddy and Daisy and Ruffles McBearington. Can you teach me?  
I hope to see you soon._

_Yours,  
Madelyn_

Leo frowned when he read about Daisy's fears. He had realized that very often Madelyn talked about her toys' feelings in order to express how she herself was feeling. So this meant she still was afraid of being left behind, of being alone. Leo really had to think of what would be the best reply to that. But he finally had an idea.

He chuckled a bit when he read about April winning second place. That was really good for someone who had just started taking photographs – and not out of interest, but because of some small lie. So maybe the saying was true. Everything happened for a reason. Even lies, as it turned out now.

Imaging Raph at a tea party made him laugh out loud. He could literally see his brother's grumpy face when Mikey would offer him a cup of tea. But Raph would play along as long as his short temper would allow him just to make a little girl happy. Leo was quite sure about this. Raph had a soft heart although he did a great job in hiding it. So he would just sit there, acting kind and polite, until Mikey would simply overdo it and cause Raph to hit him. Yes, that was totally how a tea party with Raph and Mikey would pass.

As for Donnie he would be the kindest gentleman someone could ever think of just to impress April.

Thinking of Donnie, his genius brother tried even harder to impress April now that Casey was around. Leo was pretty sure that April and Casey weren't dating – he had never imagined April to fall for someone rude and a bit arrogant like Casey, although he could be mistaken here –, but Donnie was seeing Casey as a rival here because he and April were spending time together.

Leo was still wondering if it really had been the first time it had occurred to Donnie that April could meet boys – human boys, to be accurate. Maybe his brother had just blinded out the fact that April was going to a normal high school with normal kids and that she sure was seeing other people than mutants. Leo thought his genius brother must have known about this, he just didn't like to think about it, obviously. And maybe not seeing April with other human kids – recent attacks from a certain kunoichi not included – had made it easier for him to shove this possibility aside.

But now the fact that he was forced to see April and Casey together – even though they were just friends – had brought all his doubts back. And that must be the reason why he was trying so hard. Leo knew it wasn't easy for Donnie, but so far he had been able to not let the dislike of Casey get the better of him. April seemed to like Casey, so that alone was enough reason for Donnie to not show his dislike too obviously.

Leo pondered. And maybe there was another reason Donnie tried to play along. Maybe his brother was still feeling guilty about what had happened to Raph's pet turtle Spike. If he hadn't messed up this experiment and Raph hadn't decided to keep the canister of mutagen in his room, Spike would never have mutated, Slash would never have attacked them. And Casey was Raph's friend now, he and the human teenager got along really well which had helped Raph to get back to his normal, hot-tempered self after losing Spike. Casey seemed to have filled the gab Spike had left in Raph's life a bit. And although Donnie complained about that they now had two Raphs around, Leo was pretty sure, deep down inside Donnie was happy Raph had found a new friend. And yes, that could be the other reason he hadn't given Casey a hard time now – of which Leo knew Donnie was totally capable of. It still made him shudder to think about the cleaning duty-debacle some time ago.

As for teaching Madelyn a thing or two about self-defense, Leo still wasn't convinced he could do that. But maybe this didn't matter. Maybe he had to do it, no matter what. Seeing Madelyn in one of Rat King's cages had made him realize that.

With a sigh he took his letter paper and started writing.

_Dear Madelyn,_

_I am glad I could save you, your father, and Daisy. And it makes me happy that you all are reunited again.  
As for what you can do to help Daisy, all I can think of is what April has already told you. Assure her that you are there for her, that you will never lose her again. And I agree with April. Daisy knows you would never leave her again. She is just afraid because such bad things have happened to her. And she knows that it wasn't your fault as well. She just needs to recover. Give her some time so these bad memories can fade away and she will be back to normal.  
Or tell her an example from your life. Tell her that Mr. Turtle would never let you down even though he can't be around you all the time. That's the truth. I am always going to do all I can to save you, Madelyn. And just as I am sure Daisy knows that you would never leave her behind, I hope you know that I would never leave you. I will always do all in my power to prevent anything bad to happen to you, and I would do anything to save you. Never forget that, Madelyn, okay?  
No, April didn't say anything about her second place! I sure have to talk to her about this. This is awesome! I know she is a great photographer, and I am happy other people can see her talent as well.  
I thought so. Yes, Mr. Beam is really funny and I can ask if he wants to join our next tea party. I will ask Mr. Red and my other brother as well. I am just not sure when we will have the time. Something strange is going on in this city and we have to find out what's wrong first.  
My other brother is doing a lot better now. But I am sure he would like to join our next tea party.  
I've been thinking about this, Madelyn, and yes, I am going to teach you how to defend yourself. I have realized that though I would prefer to be one-hundred percent sure that I am ready to be someone's teacher, things sometimes just don't go the way I would like them to. I will ask April to help me with this. She sees you more often than I do, and you can learn a lot more if she helps you as well. Would that be okay?  
I'll try to come over for a short visit on the weekend._

_Yours,  
Mr. Turtle_


	24. Responsibility

_And here we go with the answers to some questions, again. ;)_

_HardyGal asked if Madelyn is ever going to ask Leo if he likes anyone. I can totally see that happen in the future. Although I have to disagree with you on Karai being Leo's sister. They aren't related and didn't grow up together, so I don't think they would see each other as brother and sister._

_Coolrose60 asked if there is going to be some action in the next chapters. Not sure about that one. As you know, this is no action-fic. There might be a bit action in the future, but I won't write too much action. ;)  
_

_Dragonblooded said that it would be interesting to have a seven-year-old kunoichi, but I doubt Leo would train Madelyn as a kunoichi. He's just going to show her a few tricks to defend herself. He's still a ninja a training, and thus I don't think he would be able to train Madelyn to become a kunoichi.  
_

_And I have to thank miceaholic for bringing up this "crashing through her room doesn't count as meeting her"- thing. Thanks, dear! ^^  
_

_This chapter takes place right before "The Manhattan Project".  
_

_That's it, on with the story! :)_

* * *

**Chapter 24: Responsibility **

April entered the lair at an easy pace. She was feeling so much better after spending some time with Madelyn, and with a smile on her face she looked around the living room. Raph was exercising some kicks on the practice dummy and Mikey was lounging around on the couch, watching a "Super Robo Mecha Force Five!"-episode. He lazily waved at April and Raph just stopped his training for a split second to wave at her.

April scanned the room for Donnie and Leo, but the noise level coming from Donnie's lab which she could hear between the thudding sounds of the practice dummy when it received a kick by Raph assured her that the Turtles' genius was working in his lab. And he must be pretty caught up in his work if he hadn't heard April entering the lair. He usually dropped everything just to say hi to her. The only exception was when he was so wrapped up in his own little working-bubble, he didn't realize anything else. And this happened quite often now that he was working on a retro-mutagen.

April made a mental note to check on Donnie later. He had a tendency of forgetting to eat when he was working, and she bet his brothers hadn't thought of bringing him something to eat yet. So this was up to her.

With a sigh April listened for any noises coming from the kitchen to check if Leo was there, but there was nothing to be heard.

"Where's Leo?" she finally asked.

"In his room," Mikey replied.

"Why?" Raph asked without interrupting his training nor looking at her. "You got another pink letter for him from his little friend?" He smirked.

"Actually, I do," April explained with a frown. "What's so funny?"

"What is _not_ funny about Leo having a little girl as a pen pal and writing about tea parties and unicorns and dolls?" Raph gave back.

"How do you know what they are writing about?" April asked.

Raph froze, just bringing up his left hand in time to stop the swinging practice dummy from hitting his plastron. "I…uhm…just…know."

April crossed her arms over her chest. "Not because you snuck into Leo's room and read these letters?"

"…No."

April just blew a raspberry, and for the first time now Mikey sat up and shot his brother a disapproving glance.

"I…I was worried," Raph gave back. "What if this was a trap set up by the Kraang or the Foot or…"

April wagged a finger at Raph. "You are too worried, Raph, you know that? And I am going to tell Leo about this later. You are going to have to make up for this."

"Yeah, by taking over his cleaning duty, for example," Mikey added.

Raph just growled. "Fine!" Then he started hitting the practice dummy again.

April slightly shook her head as she continued her path to Leo's room.

She could hear Mikey address Raph again.

"Besides," the youngest turtle said, "Madelyn is very real and the sweetest little darling one can think of."

"She could be Foot!"

"She is _not_! You would know that if you'd have met her."

"I have already met her!"

"Technically, crashing through her room doesn't really count as _'meeting her'_, you know."

Raph just grunted in response.

* * *

When April entered Leo's room after the mutant turtle asked her in after her knock at the door, she found him sitting on his bed, his laptop on his lap like she had seen him so many times before.

"What you're up to, Leo?" April asked with a smile as she sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Watching this one-hour-special of 'Unicornia' Madelyn told me about," Leo replied, but then put his laptop aside.

"And is it good?" April asked.

"It's okay, I guess," Leo replied. "You know I am only watching this for Madelyn."

April looked at him with a smirk. "Really?"

Leo returned her look unimpressed. "Really."

April's smirk turned into a broad grin. "Really really?"

Leo tried to keep that earnest look on his face, but finally it broke into a smile. "Okay, okay, _maybe_ I like it a little," he confessed, but then he turned earnest again. "If you tell the others…"

"…you'll beat the green off me?"

"That's what Raph would do!" Leo gave back. "And where exactly is there any green on you?"

April swayed her head. "True. How about you smack the yellow of my shirt?"

"Another Raph-phrase," Leo chuckled.

"Then I'm out of ideas," April admitted and shrugged, a smirk still plastered on her face. "How come Raph does all the tough talking?"

"Because that's what Raph is good at," Leo chuckled again.

"And what you do is being a great leader and an amazing friend to a little girl," April said as she took Madelyn's latest letter out of her messenger bag and handed it to Leo. "Yeah, I guess I can overlook that you suck at tough talking, then."

"Geez, Arpil, since when did you join the 'Teasing Leo'-group?" Leo asked as he put the letter on his bedside table.

April shrugged. "I dunno. You still have a lot to make up for for making me start a whole new hobby just to cover you, I guess."

"It's not my fault you couldn't think of anything else than photographing!" Leo said defensively. "Besides, you are really good at it. You finished second place in a competition, _Miss Green_!"

"I am never going to understand how you came up with that nickname!" April gave back.

"That's what happens when I try to do things my brothers can do better! Mikey is the one for naming stuff!" Leo replied. "Besides, it was some sort of a revenge for you forcing me into using green letter paper."

"But it fits you!"

"As 'Miss Green' does fit you, then! And how long are you trying to overplay the fact that you won _second place_?!"

Leo folded his arms over his chest and jutted his chin forward stubbornly.

April had to bite her lip down hard to not burst out into laughter because Leo's current appearance had made her think of Madelyn's tantrum last time when Leo had said he couldn't come over for a visit. Looks like not only Mr. Turtle was affecting Madelyn, no, this worked the other way round as well.

She waited till the urge to laugh had died down before she spoke up.

"Sorry, I would have told you some time, I guess," she finally said.

"That's pretty good, you know," Leo said as the stubborn look disappeared from his face and was replaced by a warm smile.

April lowered her eyes and shyly brushed a strand of hair out of her face. "It's nothing," she mumbled.

"Stop hiding your light under a bushel! You're a great photographer!" Leo said.

April looked at him. "Thank you, Leo."

Leo sat up and placed a hand on April's shoulder. "You're welcome," he said with a smile.

April returned his smile, and when Leo put his hand away, she spoke up again. "So, you agreed to train Madelyn?" she asked. "She was talking about this the entire day. She is so excited!"

Leo smiled wryly. "Yeah, that."

"Huh?" April raised a brow. "You don't sound so convinced."

Leo sighed. "Well, I know it is important that Madelyn knows how to defend herself in case something bad happens to her. I'm not sure if it would help when a giant rat monster tries to drag her away again, though, but it would help her if some crazy guy tries to kidnap her."

April nodded. "I agree. But I wonder why you haven't done that earlier. I know Madelyn asked you to."

Leo sighed again. "It's…complicated."

"Why?"

Leo sighed. "It's something sensei taught us. If you train someone, you are responsible. And my whole friendship with Madelyn never had anything to do with responsibility. Actually, the reason I loved my friendship with Madelyn so much was that I didn't have to take responsibility for her, that I could just be me, not the leader, not the ninja, just Mr. Turtle."

April frowned at him.

"Don't get me wrong!" Leo explained. "Madelyn means a lot to me and I would give my life to save her! It's just that I don't want to be responsible if anything happens to her."

"But you won't be! On the contrary, if you show her how to defend herself, you will save her, in a way," April said. "Leo, I know you can do that. You are going to be a great teacher! And Madelyn is no member of your team. She won't join you on life-threatening missions. It still is different with her!"

"I know that here!" Leo said and tipped a finger against his forehead. "But I don't know it here!" He placed his hand over his chest where his heart was pounding underneath his plastron.

April gave Leo a look of commiseration, took his hand that rested on his plastron into hers hand and held it for a moment, squeezing it gently.

"You are going to know it there as well one day, Leo," she said with a warm smile. "You are just a bit afraid because it really means some responsibility, and as a leader you already seem to have to bear to much responsibility on your shoulders, but I know you are going to handle it just greatly."

"Thank you, April!"

"You are welcome, Leo."

"Oh, that reminds me," Leo said, as he gave April's hand a stronger squeeze and finally let go of her hand, "Could you help me a bit? I don't see Madelyn as often as you do and maybe you could go over what I teach her from time to time. I guess it would help her a lot."

April smirked at him. "Are you trying to pass some of that responsibility on me?"

"No, I…I…," Leo stammered, until he lowered his head a bit and looked up at April with puppy dog eyes. "Maybe a little," he mumbled.

That looked so cute that April had to bite down her lip again or else a long-drawn-out "awwwwwwwwww" would have escaped her mouth.

"That's okay," she said with a chuckle to conceal the still waiting "awwwwwwwwww" on her tongue. "I am Madelyn's babysitter, so I know what taking some responsibility is like. I think we can handle this, _partner_!"

She held out her hand and Leo shook it.

"Alright, partner!" he said with a smirk.

_From mailwoman to babysitter to photographer to partner in such a short amount of time, not bad_, April thought, returning Leo's smirk.

* * *

_Dear Mr. Turtle,_

_Thank you very much for your advice. I tried to assure Daisy that I always am there for her, and she keeps saying that she understands, but that she still is afraid she gets lost again. I do my best by playing with her and spending as much time with her as I can. I hope this helps her.  
I know you are always there for me, Mr. Turtle. But sometimes it is hard to remember because we see each other not so often. Do you think we can meet more often? I know it is hard for you because you are a superhero and need to fight the bad guys, but I think it would help Daisy too if she sees that someone who really can protect us is around us more often. I know April is a superhero too but she only is a part-time superhero because she has school and she is my babysitter too. And she is a photographer. There isn't much time left for her being a superhero and doing superhero-stuff. Is she a good superhero, Mr. Turtle? Maybe if I can assure Daisy that April is a great superhero it helps her.  
Something strange is going on? This sounds dangerous. Please be careful, Mr. Turtle! But I am sure whatever it is you can handle it. You defeated the rat monsters and the creepy guy with the ugly face and you saved Daddy and me and brought Daisy back to me. You can do anything, Mr. Turtle! You're a superhero. I believe in you. And after you saved the city we can have a tea party altogether to celebrate this – you, me, April, Mr. Red, Mr. Beam, and your other brother. This will be awesome!  
Thank you so, so much, Mr. Turtle! I can't wait to learn how to defend myself and protect Daisy and Daddy! And it is okay if April helps too. Can I have such a beautiful fan she has? I still have to ask her how it works. I didn't have time to do so before.  
I hope you can come over for a visit on the weekend! Fingers crossed!  
_

_Yours,  
Madelyn_


	25. Unexpected Visit

_Thank you all for your support again! I love you! ^^_

_Again, I need to make a few things clear:_

_Raph was afraid the Foot might use Madelyn to get to Leo or that Madelyn could be some sort of a "fake" and lead Leo into a trap. And he is not convinced that isn't so yet. Of course he knows that she is no Foot ninja, but still she could be a robot or whatever. At least in his opinion. Sure, we know that isn't true, but Raph doesn't. He has only seen her for a split second and never talked to her and he is overprotective of his brothers, so I think this is understandable._

_Dragonblooded mentioned that calling Madelyn a kunoichi was just a joke, but to be honest, that wasn't clear. I bet Karai could have been called a kunoichi at the age of seven, a kunoichi in training, though, but still a kunoichi. Same goes for April if Splinter had already been training her at that young age. So Madelyn could be considered a kunoichi if she would be trained that way which actually is not going to happen. Leo is showing her how to defend herself when she needs to do so, but not more. And that alone is not what constitutes a kunoichi._

_Speaking of Karai, I still can't see Leo treat her as a sister. Like I said before, they aren't related and didn't grow up together, so how are they supposed to share some kind of 'sibling love'? His feelings aren't clearly shown in the show, so I tried to give you an insight on how I think Leo might feel about her in this chapter._

_This chapter takes place after the one-hour special "The Manhattan Project". _

* * *

**Chapter 25: Unexpected Visit**

With a frustrated outcry Leo crumpled up the piece of letter paper he had written down on and flung it on the ground, letting it join all these other crumpled-up pieces of green letter paper that were already scattered around his bed.

Leo looked down at the floor for a moment and made a mental note to tell April to get more letter paper for him soon. If he kept up this crumpling-up-thing up, he would be run out of letter paper by tomorrow.

With a sigh he jumped to his feet. Maybe walking around would help him figure out what to write to Madelyn. So many things had happened in the past days that he simply had no idea where to start.

Not only had they had to face a new – and admittedly deadly – enemy, no, they had nearly lost their sensei, not to speak of the near-death experience they had all been going through. To call it "a lot to deal with" was a slight understatement. No, actually it was a _big_ one.

Leo was walking around his room restlessly, his steps firm, his whole body tensed. Every now and then he ran his hand over his forehead as if to wipe away another thought that was disturbing the thought he was focusing on, but it just didn't work. His thoughts were a mess, a knot, a bundle, and he had no idea how to get this straight.

He paused for a moment, took a deep breath and tried to relax. Okay, he would try to do this one more time, although he had his doubts that he would manage arranging his thoughts now, but maybe if he got over the facts bit by bit, it would help.

He closed his eyes, taking another deep breath, and went over the events of the last days.

There had been this encounter with Karai and the Foot, his attempt to tell her who her real father was. Then his talk to sensei about this, and then Splinter had revealed to the others that Karai actually was his daughter.

Then there had been these dimensional portals. Seeing himself in another dimension sure had been odd, but this wasn't exactly what disturbed him. So he checked this matter off as settled.

After that there had been Tigerclaw, their newest enemy who had managed to capture him, Raph and Mikey, and who had forced him to call sensei which had ended up in Splinter getting captured as well. Leo could still feel how feared he had been of losing his father, but Mikey, Raph, and him had managed to come up with a plan and rescue him. He knew how lucky they had been to defeat Tigerclaw and the rest of Shredder's henchmen, and if it hadn't been for April's idea to ride a Kraathatrogon to cause some distraction and Donnie reversing this portal's polarity to get everything back to normal, they most likely would be dead now. But they were alive, they were fine, all of them, so no, this wasn't was caused his uneasiness.

Was it the fact he could lose his brothers? No, not really. This always was a possibility and he knew that. It was his worst fear, a fear he had to face each and every day, but he was able to cope with it.

Maybe it was the fear of losing his sensei, his father. But he had known of this possibility all along. Just like his brothers, his fear to lose Splinter was there in the back of his head every day, and again, he had learnt to deal with it.

So there was only one thing left that could be responsible for all of this – Karai. Again. What was it that this woman managed to disturb his thoughts every time? Okay, he knew she was Splinter's daughter, he knew her real name was Miwa, but as sensei had told them, it was her decision to accept the truth or not. There was actually nothing he could do about it. So why couldn't he stop thinking about it then?

He had been so eager to tell her the truth. It had been a confirmation of his perception of her being different when he had been told by sensei that Karai was actually Miwa. Now she really _was_ different. She was no ordinary Foot, not only following Shredder's orders without second thoughts, deep down inside she was Splinter's, no, Hamato Yoshi's daughter. She knew it now, she just needed to accept it.

He had been right about her. And all this time this tiny hope inside him that one day Karai would leave the Foot and join them, had never completely died down, not when she had captured him, not when she had tried to kill him. And now this hope had thrust itself forward, had become more and more important. And it had been fueled when Splinter had told them that Karai had stopped Shredder from killing him. This had showed him that she was starting to become adjusted to the truth, that maybe she would be able to accept it soon.

This was his hope, his one big hope – that the good inside her would actually show. That she would accept who she was.

And it was this one big hope only he allowed himself to think about. As for his other hopes about her, he had pushed them back inside his head as far as possible. Had he still feelings for her? He didn't want to think about it. Sure, Karai was Splinter's daughter, but this didn't make her his sister. They were neither related nor had they grown up together. He didn't see her as a sister. Maybe he never would. Maybe he still had a crush on her and just didn't show it as much as earlier when they had just met. Maybe he still saw her as love interest. But that were only maybes, nothing he wanted to think through right now. He just refused to tolerate these thoughts about his feelings for her. There were important things to do – like making her understand what being Hamato Yoshi's daughter really meant. It meant that Shredder had been lying to her all her life, it meant that she was allowed to be good. And that was the reason why all his other thoughts and hopes about her had to remain hidden, had to remain un-thought and un-hoped. For now.

Leo opened his eyes again. He wasn't really feeling better, but at least his head didn't feel like it was going to explode with all these rumbling thoughts, so it was a bit of a progress.

He sat down on the bed again, picking up letter paper and pencil, but after a few moments he tossed them aside again as he hit on another idea. And with a slight smile he jumped to his feet and left his room.

* * *

April opened the window to a hectic knocking on the glass only to find Leo outside on the fire escape.

"Geez, Leo," she said to him. "Where's the fire?"

"April, I need your help", Leo blurted out. "Do you have apple tea? We only have green tea and herbal tea. And could you please prepare a thermos bottle of apple tea? I have no idea where our thermos bottle had disappeared to, but it's gone. Probably Donnie needed it for one of his experiments. So could you, please? I mean, only if you have apple tea at home, of course. If you don't, could you please go to the supermarket and buy some? I know it's already evening, but the one around the corner is open 24 hours, right? So, it would be great, ifffff…"

He was silenced as April pressed both her hands against his lips, his last word muffled by that.

April closed her eyes and furrowed her brow as she went over all the information Leo had given her in a few seconds, trying to figure out what the important message was.

"You need a thermos bottle of apple tea, right?" she finally said as she opened her eyes and looked at Leo.

The mutant turtle nodded because April's hands on his mouth still hindered him from talking.

"Good," the teenage girl said. "We have apple tea at home. My aunt loves it. And we do have a thermos bottle as well, so I am going to prepare what you asked me for, okay?"

Leo nodded again.

"And while I am doing so, you stay out there and calm down," April demanded. "Or else you might get a heart attack."

Leo nodded again, but when April put her hands away he took a deep breath and wanted to say something.

"Nah-ah!" April stopped him before he could speak up. "_Calm down!_"

Leo breathed out audibly and nodded again.

"Good boy." April smiled at him and then left her room.

When she came back with a thermos bottle full of apple tea she eyed him up as she stepped up to the window.

"Better?" she asked.

Leo just nodded.

"You know you can speak now," April gave back.

"Okay," Leo said. "I'm better."

"So what was all this rush about?"

Leo shrugged insecurely. "I dunno. I had this idea of visiting Madelyn tonight and bring her her favorite tea, so I rummaged our kitchen for some apple tea and our thermos bottle, but couldn't find either. It turned out we don't have apple tea at home and that our thermos bottle had disappeared. But I had spent so much time looking for these that it was getting later and later, so I could only think of asking you for help to somehow still make it to Madelyn before she goes to sleep."

"You know she wouldn't mind if you wake her up, right?" April asked.

"I do, but I don't want to wake her up," Leo explained. "She's a kid, she needs her sleep."

April thought about that for a moment. "I see," she finally said. "But you could have sent a text message instead of knocking at my window as if the house was on fire. I thought God-knows-what had happened."

Leo smiled at her sheepishly. "Sorry. I guess I was too stressed out to think of that."

April theatrically rolled her eyes, but then she smiled at Leo and handed him the thermos bottle.

"Give Madelyn my regards," she said with a wink.

"I will," Leo assured before he took the thermos bottle. He waved at April and then disappeared into the night.

* * *

Madelyn was lying in her bed, holding Daisy close to her and trying to fall asleep. However, she had problems with that tonight. She kept thinking about these disturbing earthquakes – as probably did most of New York's inhabitants now. Would there be more of them? Would they get worse? Her father hadn't been able to tell her, so she had decided to ask Mr. Turtle about it or April, but she wouldn't see April before tomorrow when the teenager would pick her up from school as she usually did on Thursdays. This meant she wouldn't get a letter from Mr. Turtle before tomorrow either and couldn't ask him about the earthquakes in her reply before the day after tomorrow. And even then, she wouldn't get a reply to her letter before the weekend – which was when Mr. Turtle said he would try to visit her anyway. So either way, her questions would have to wait until tomorrow.

She closed her eyes again, but she still didn't feel tired. So she really squeezed her eyes shut now, thinking that maybe that would make her feel more tired. But after a few moments she realized it didn't.

The moment she opened her eyes again, there was a knock on her window. She sat up and looked to the window, but when she realized who was waiting outside for her to let him in she jumped out of her bed, ran over to the window and opened it.

"Mr. Turtle!" she cried out.

"Shhhhhhhttttt!" Leo tried to shush her. "You don't want your father to hear you, right?"

"Daddy's asleep," Madelyn clarified when Leo knelt down so he could hug her and she immediately flung her arms around his neck. "He will only wake up when I cry for help."

"Okay, I see," Leo gave back as he placed his one hand on her back and gently patted it.

When Madelyn let go of him the little girl stepped back and eyed him up.

"Did you stop the earthquakes, Mr. Turtle?" she asked earnestly.

"We did," Leo assured her.

"There won't be any more of them?"

"Not in the near future."

Madelyn's earnest look turned into a beam. "I knew it!"

Leo chuckled.

"And now to the next item of business, the most important one," Leo said with a smile as he held out the thermos bottle to Madelyn. "Let's have some tea."

Madelyn gasped in surprise and clasped her hands against her mouth.

Moments later they were seated at Madelyn's little table, sipping apple tea out of Madelyn's plastic tea cups.

The little girl was telling Leo about what had happened in her life the past days, how school was, how Billy still left her alone, and how she and Marcus were becoming better and better friends.

Leo's was listening with a warm smile on his face.

And for the first time in days now he felt how his body relaxing and how he calmed down. For the first time in days he was actually feeling good.

That was the reason why he loved Madelyn so much. That was the reason why he loved being her Mr. Turtle.


	26. Poor Little Darling

**Chapter 26: Poor Little Darling**

Madelyn was lying on the couch, her head and most of her back resting on a big pillow, her whole body wrapped up in a duvet, a cup of tea and a glass of apple juice placed on the coffee table in front of her. Her doll Daisy was sitting on the floor within Madelyn's reach, its face turned to the TV.

Madelyn heard a knock on the door, but she didn't feel well enough to lift her head. So her eyes kept set on the TV where an episode of "Unicornia" was on.

Her father opened the door for April who entered cautiously.

"How is she doing?" the teenage girl asked Mr. Dearing.

"Better," he replied. "But it's the flu, so this is going to take a while. We knew it could happen. Some kids in her school were having the flu lately. But anyways, thanks for your help, April."

"Don't mention it!" April gave back with a smile.

"I'll be back as soon as I am done with the grocery shopping," Mr. Dearing said. "I just don't want her to be alone. But there are some things you have to do even when you are working from home because your daughter is sick."

"I could have done the grocery shopping, too," April said. "If you don't want to leave Madelyn."

"And let you drag the heavy bags home? No way!" Mr. Dearing warded off.

He then went to Madelyn's sickbed, bent down and placed a kiss on her forehead. "I'll have to do some shopping, April's here, if you need something, okay?"

Madelyn just nodded in response.

"Okay, I'll be quick!" And with that Mr. Dearing left the apartment, just saying his "Good bye!" to April before he closed the door.

April went over to Madelyn and sat down on the couch at Madelyn's feet.

"How're you doing, Madelyn?" the teenage girl asked. "Better?"

Madelyn nodded. "Better, yes. But I have a terrible headache."

"Poor little darling!" April said sympathetically. "I'm afraid that's part of having the flu and of having been feverish. At least your fever is down, your father told me on the phone. That's a good sign. It means it's starting to get better."

"Okay." Madelyn nodded again, but the look on her face was so suffering, April wished she could say something to cheer the little girl up.

"You remember Mr. Turtle had the flu recently as well?"

"Mm-hmm."

"And now he is back to normal, right?"

"Mm-hmm."

"And do you know what made him feel better, what really helped him to recover?"

"Uh-uh."

"Well," April said with a smile and gently patted the duvet where she knew Madelyn's feet where underneath, "he had a great doctor and a gentle family that took care of him. And you have that too."

"Doctor Merry is great," Madelyn admitted. "And Daddy is super-nice, and you are here too." For the first time that day the little girl smiled. "So I am going to be good soon, right?"

"Of course!" April said. "And to put the cherry on the cake, Mr. Turtle told me he would try to visit you in the next days. He was really worried when I told him you were sick. But for the meantime, he sends you this." And with that she pulled the typical green letter out of her bag and gave it to Madelyn.

The little girl smiled, but then she frowned. "But I have such a terrible headache, I can't read it now."

"You can read it when you're better, no worries."

Madelyn curled her lips. "But I want to read it now!"

April flinched mentally. That sounded like there was the danger of another tantrum at hand. Sure, Madelyn was weakened by the flu, but maybe that was even more dangerous because the girl couldn't control herself so much now.

"What about I read the letter to you, Madelyn?" she suggested quickly. "I mean, if it is okay for you that I read it, of course."

April wasn't sure what she had expected, maybe that Madelyn would cry out because of her inappropriate suggestion and say that their letters were for her and Mr. Turtle only, but the little girl just nodded and handed the letter back to April.

The teenage girl hesitated a bit, before she took the letter. She looked at Madelyn once more to make sure the girl really didn't want to stop her, but she just looked at April expectantly.

So April yanked the letter open and took the letter out of the envelope. She unfolded it and scanned it, getting herself used to Leo's handwriting – which was copperplate, April had to admit.

Then she took a deep breath and started reading.

_Dear Madelyn,_

_I hope you enjoyed our tea party as much as I did. It was really nice. And I hope it helped Daisy to understand that I will always be there for her as well. And I even managed to come for a visit earlier than the weekend, so I guess crossing your fingers really worked. _

_April told me that you are down with the flu. I am so, so sorry to hear that! Poor you! I hope you get well soon, Madelyn! _

_You know I was down with the flu some time ago too, and I know how awful this is. But it will pass. I know it will. This is what my brother and doctor always told me. And he was right. He is always right. He is the smart brother, you must know._

_Thanks for your belief in me. My brothers, my father, April, and our friend managed to save the city. It was close, but we did it. And I hope as soon as you have recovered we can have our victory tea party. I can ask my brothers if they want to join us. _

_As for your training, just like our tea party this will have to wait until you have totally recovered. Then we can talk about what your training is going to look like. By the way, April agreed helping me with your training. So it would be a good start if you ask her about her fan first, don't you think? After all, you love her fan so much, and I bet she would love to explain to you how it works._

_I watched the one hour-'Unicornia'-special and it was really good. I loved Tallulah Twinkle in that episode. But this new princess Mille Grazie was great, too. I like that she has a nickname and her friends call her 'Milly'. Is she going to show up in later episodes as well? And who was your favorite in this special?_

_By the way, did you have a chance to watch more 'Space Heroes'-episodes? _

_Get well soon, Madelyn!_

_Yours, _

_Mr. Turtle_

April had hesitated a bit when she had read the part about Madelyn asking her about her fan. Madelyn was still interested in her tessen?

And when she was finished she realized Madelyn had lowered her eyes a bit, avoiding eye-contact. Knowing the little girl for quite some time now, April assumed she was a bit shy because now April knew she wanted to know more about her weapon.

She beamed at the little girl.

"So it looks like we are all going to have a victory tea party soon," she said cheerfully. "Isn't that awesome?"

Madelyn nodded shyly.

_Okay, that didn't work,_ April thought. _Usually, tea parties cheer her up within moments. Time to think of something else!_

April put the letter back in the envelope and placed it on the coffee table. Then she started rummaging in her messenger bag and put her tessen out.

"Okay, Madelyn, what do you want to know?" she asked with a smile.

Madelyn looked at her, her eyes widening in surprise.

"You are going to tell me?" she asked. "It is so beautiful! I want to have one too! But I thought I won't get one because you told me it was dangerous."

"Of course I am going to tell you," April assured her. "And if you want to have a tessen too one day, you need to understand why it is dangerous. So I am going to show you."

She rummaged in her bag again and put a piece of paper out. Then she flicked the tessen open and cut the piece of paper in two halves with it.

"This is why it is dangerous," April explained. "It is sharp here and you could easily cut yourself badly, if you aren't careful. And it works a bit like a boomerang when you throw it, so you need to learn how to catch it again, without getting hurt. It means a lot of practice to handle it properly, and I am just a beginner. There is still so much for me to learn. And I think your tessen-training has to wait until I am better at it and until you have learned all the basics you need to know before we can talk about you getting your own tessen. That's what it's called, by the way."

"I know," Madelyn said. "Mr. Turtle told me. But I prefer 'fan'." She beamed at April.

The teenage girl smiled at her. "Okay." Then she flicked the tessen closed again and took it back into her bag.

When she had sat up again, she looked at Madelyn and the little girl was still beaming at her.

"Uhm, is there anything else you want to know?" she asked.

Madelyn nodded eagerly.

"Who was Mr. Turtle's doctor?" she burst out.

April's eyes widened.

_From weapons to doctors_, she thought. _This girl really makes some mental jumps._

But then a big grin appeared on her face as she said, "Doctor Donnie!"

* * *

On the evening of the same day – Mr. Dearing had insisted April stayed for dinner – April and Leo were meeting on the fire escape in front of April's room again. As always, April was seated on the window bench.

"So, how is Madelyn doing?" Leo asked immediately.

"Better," April replied.

"You sure?"

"Yes, Leo, I _am_ sure," April said. "A flu must not be taken lightly, true, but she really is doing better. I bet Mr. Dearing would never have let me near her if she still was contagious." She chuckled a bit. "Something he and Donnie have in common, I guess."

"Well, you are important to both of them," Leo said.

Then he mentally slapped his hand against his forehead. He and his brothers had this deal – never talk to April about Donnie's crush on her. It was okay to make fun of Donnie a bit, but they had agreed they would never tell him that he might not have a shot with April. And then they had agreed once again on it when Raph had forgotten about it.

So Leo wracked his brain for something he could say to cover Donnie.

"As…as you are to all of us," he said quickly, followed by an insecure giggle.

April choked a chuckle. "I know," she said. "And you are all important to me as well."

"Well, what surprised me was that she was so curious about my tessen," April said after a few moments of silence. "I thought she had lost interest in it after I told her that it was a dangerous weapon."

"Are you kidding me?!" Leo burst out. "She asked me about it right after your little lecture. I guess she was interested in it from the first moment she saw, but was too shy to ask you .But I told her she really should ask you. It is your weapon of choice, you know." He shrugged. "If she wants to know anything about katanas, send her my way, but for tessens, that's your special subject."

"You know that I still have a long way to go until a tessen could be considered as my _special subject_," April said. "As much as I hate to admit it."

Leo placed a hand on your shoulder. "But you are getting there."

"I hope you're right," April sighed.

"I _am_ right," Leo gave back with a wink.

April just giggled silently.

"By the way," she said then, "I think Madelyn is going to invite you and the others to a victory tea party soon."

Now it was Leo's turn to sigh. "I was afraid you were going to say that." He lowered his eyes. "I am not sure if I am ready to share her with the others."

"I know," April said as she placed her hand on Leo's that was still resting on her shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. "But you're getting there. And you are always going to be Madelyn's Mr. Turtle and thus you are always going to be special to her."

"You sure?"

April smiled at him warmly. "I _am_ sure."

Instead of an answer Leo just returned her smile.


End file.
